1000 Smiles Clinic Serves Thousands: Sandals Foundation and Great Shape! Inc. Celebrate Success of Debut Dental Clinic in Antigua
Over 3000 residents have been served in the first staging of the Sandals Foundation-powered Great Shape! Inc.‘s 1000 Smiles clinic in Antigua.
In just two weeks, the volunteer mission which was coordinated in collaboration with the Ministry of Health served 3,575 residents with free oral care and dental education. Led by a team of 121 dental volunteers from the United States and Canada, over 1,500 patients received some 8,000 individual dental services including cleanings, extractions, fillings, restorative, urgent treatments and more.
“Everywhere we go, the need is great, but these two weeks in Antigua were especially powerful,” said Joseph ‘Papa Joe’ Wright, Founder of Great Shape! Inc. “The response from communities across the island reminded us why this work matters — relieving pain, restoring dignity, and giving people reason to smile again.”
The scale of the clinic has been described as “transformational”. On an island of 100,000 residents, the outreach, Wright explained, moved beyond individual sites to have an island-wide effort, “It was as if every resident here either received a service or knew someone who did”.
Preventative care was a central focus for the school outreach component of the programme. Close to 3,000 children across ten schools received oral health education with more than 7,000 toothbrushes, tubes of toothpaste, and floss distributed to reinforce healthy habits long after the clinics closed.
For Heidi Clarke, Executive Director at Sandals Foundation, “This Antigua staging showed what is possible when trusted partners come together in service of community health. “We are incredibly grateful to the Ministry of Health, the team at Sandal Grande Antigua and the army of Great Shape! volunteers who together brought a critical and essential service to families across the island.”
All administrative costs, logistics, and volunteer support for the clinics are covered by the Sandals Foundation, with accommodations provided by Sandals Resorts, allowing dental professionals to focus fully on patient care.
Antigua now joins Jamaica, Turks and Caicos, Grenada, The Bahamas and Saint Lucia that also benefit from the dental mission.
A shared smile after courage — a volunteer dentist and young patient celebrate relief, care, and a reason to smile at debut Great Shape! Inc.’s 1000 Smiles clinic powered by the Sandals Foundation.
Smiles before the smiles — volunteer dental professionals gather, geared and grateful at debut Great Shape! Inc.’s 1000 Smiles clinic powered by the Sandals Foundation.
Even in the chair, there is joy — a young patient smiles as a volunteer dentist delivers care at the debut Great Shape! Inc.’s 1000 Smiles clinic powered by the Sandals Foundation and implemented with the Ministry of Health in Antigua.
The Sandals Foundation is a registered charity in Jamaica with the Department of Co-operatives and Friendly Societies, a CRA registered charity in Canada, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in the United States and a registered charity with the Charity Commission for England & Wales that was created in March 2009 to continue and expand upon the philanthropic work that Sandals Resorts International has undertaken. It is the culmination of over four decades of dedication to playing a meaningful role in the lives of the communities where we operate across the Caribbean. The Sandals Foundation funds projects in three core areas: education, community and the environment. One hundred percent of the monies contributed by the general public to the Sandals Foundation go directly to programs benefiting the Caribbean community. To learn more about the Sandals Foundation, visit online at www.sandalsfoundation.org or follow us on Facebook, and Instagram.