Dental News - Team from U.S. establishes dental lab in Tanzania

Miracle Corners of the World

Mon. 18 April 2011

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NEW YORK CITY: Miracle Corners of the World (MCW), a U.S.-based non-profit organization, recently sent a team from the United States to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, to inspect and oversee the installation of state-of-the-art dental laboratory equipment. The initiative was part of a second Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), signed in October 2010 between MCW and the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS).

The project builds on an earlier MOU, signed in September 2008, devoted to bringing MUHAS School of Dentistry and MCW together, to collaborate on an oral healthcare initiative supported by in-kind donations by private sector companies.

Tanzanian President H.E. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete and leadership from the Ministry of Health have supported the project from the beginning.

Dr Paulo Sarita, former head of restorative dentistry, made a compelling argument to Dr Marion Bergman, MCW’s director of healthcare projects. In a proposal submitted to MCW by the dental school for assistance from MCW in refurbishing the laboratory, Dr Sarita stated, “In 1984 it was decided to shift the dental laboratory of the Muhimbili Hospital to the Dental School. Bought in the ’60s, the equipments were already old and outmoded.”

William Van Vort of Henry Schein’s Zahn Dental division assisted in the unpacking of the donated equipment and laboratory supplies and installation of the equipment. The university delivered a newly painted, electrified and air-conditioned lab, outfitted with new benches built by Tanzanian craftspeople in accordance with the drawings provided by Norman Weinstock, chairman of Zahn Dental, a division of Henry Schein Inc., and a veteran in the dental laboratory industry. Weinstock assisted MCW with its needs assessment at MUHAS.

MCW shares the vision of MUHAS and the Ministry of Health leadership for the dental school’s laboratory to serve as Tanzania’s National Dental Laboratory and become a center of excellence for the region, and to provide dental appliances and prosthetics to all of Tanzania as well as surrounding countries.

MCW was founded in 1999 with the vision: “Local change through global exchange,” and its mission is to empower youth to become positive agents of change in their communities by giving them the tools, confidence and networks to pursue entrepreneurial projects in their communities.

Based in New York City, MCW serves youth through leadership training, community center and oral healthcare programs, and partner initiatives (genocide prevention).

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