Members of the Faculty of Dentistry, in collaboration with the Clarós Foundation, have participated in a humanitarian mission in São Tomé and Príncipe, reaffirming their commitment to oral health and care for vulnerable groups internationally.

During their stay, the multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals provided assistance at Ayres de Menezes Hospital in São Tomé, the country’s main hospital. The mission included the participation of supervising lecturer Dr Pablo Altuna, who teaches in the area of surgery at the Faculty of Dentistry at UIC Barcelona, as well as graduates Gabriel Madrazo, Baltasar Tapia, Laia Cardús and José María Valón, who contributed their knowledge and professional experience to this humanitarian initiative.

Most of the procedures carried out were dental extractions of varying complexity, highlighting the lack of prior access to dental care among the local population. In addition, the Clarós Foundation team, led by Dr Pedro Clarós, conducted consultations and oral and maxillofacial surgery, significantly improving the quality of life of the patients treated.
 

As part of this collaboration, framed within the Faculty’s social commitment programme “Caring for smiles, changing lives”, the Faculty of Dentistry also donated dental materials to provide care for vulnerable patients in São Tomé and Príncipe.

This initiative adds to other humanitarian projects in which the Faculty is involved, such as the mission in Madagascar with the Edugascar association or its collaboration with the Temporary Stay Centre for Immigrants (CETI) in Melilla. Through these actions, the Faculty of Dentistry strengthens its commitment to social dentistry and its focus on comprehensive education, promoting values such as solidarity and professional responsibility among students, lecturers and graduates, while contributing to improving oral health in resource-limited contexts.