Global Outreach

Globally engaged scholarship, research and service are key components of the mission of the Adams School of Dentistry.

The UNC Adams School of Dentistry recognizes that its graduates are entering a truly global profession. Our vision encompasses both local and global perspectives and aims to contribute educational, research and service outreach that will make a positive difference at home and beyond.

Our 10 dental student international project trips use a team-oriented approach to outreach. Within the cultural settings unique to other countries, students gain first-hand knowledge of the global challenges in accessing oral health care, as they provide treatment and education to adults and children.

Learn more about dental student international project trips below.

Brazil Project

Dental students have traveled to two of Brazil’s top dental schools since 2008. While visiting the Federal University of Minas Gerais, dental students have the opportunity to pair with a Brazilian dental student and observe their activities in clinics and pre-clinical labs.

Students also visit the hospitals associated with the dental schools, shadow interventions where the faculty and residents from the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery are operating.

When students visit the School of Dentistry at Bauru and the Craniofacial Hospital, they interact with students, residents and faculty, visit the hospital and learn about the multidisciplinary care offered to patients with craniofacial anomalies.

Support the Brazil Project – make an online gift by clicking here.

China Project

For two to three weeks, dental students travel to Qingdao and Beijing, China, to observe and learn about the dental system and oral health care throughout the country.

The project started in 2016 as an observational project at the Qingdao Stomatological Hospital and Peking University Hospital of Stomatology with the aim of providing clinical service in the future years.

In the summer of 2017, the group expanded their reach by raising awareness for oral health care in local communities through clinical screenings and oral health education. Students will also have the opportunity to learn about traditional Chinese medicine.

Support the China Project – make an online gift by clicking here.

India Project

The inaugural group of dental students collaborated with Yenepoya Dental College at Yenepoya University in Mangalore, and JSS University in Mysore, both in the southern state of Karnataka, India, in 2017.

Students and faculty advisors traveled to India to provide preventative and relief care to the under-served population in rural Karnataka.

The students learn valuable insight into the oral health challenges of a culturally diverse population, while providing much needed dental care to those in need.

Support the India Project – make an online gift by clicking here.

Malawi Project

In 2004, this project began as a collaboration with the University of Mzuzu with the goal of providing emergency, preventative and restorative card to those in need at Lilongwe Hospital, remote villages and schools in many parts of the country.

The team works to educate Malawian school aged children about oral health and hygiene, and about the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the risks associated with the disease.

Support the Malawi Project – make an online gift by clicking here.

Mexico Project

Since 1986, students have traveled to Mexico’s Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos Orphanage annually for a three-week mission project. Located in the town of Miacatlan, the orphanage houses an average of 1,000 children.

Because there are only part-time dentists at the orphanage, Adams School of Dentistry students provide for the children and the clinic by contributing dental treatments, education and dental supplies.

Support the Mexico Project – make an online gift by clicking here.

Moldova Project

An exchange program between the UNC Adams School of Dentistry and the dental school in Chisinau, Moldova, began in 2004.

Students spend time volunteering free dental care at the Straseni orphanage’s medical clinic, as well as pairing with students at the Chisinau dental school to provide oral care.

Support the Moldova Project – make an online gift by clicking here.

Nicaragua Project

Beginning in March 2018, a group of dental students will be traveling to Operation Smile’s Craniofacial Center in Managua, Nicaragua to provide dental treatments to children born with craniofacial anomalies, especially cleft lip and palate.

This is the first program that allows students to travel abroad and treat children with craniofacial anomalies. The undergraduate chapter of Operation Smile at UNC-Chapel Hill supports funding efforts for the Nicaragua project.

Support the Nicaragua Project – make an online gift by clicking here.

Uganda Project

In 2012, dental students started a project to visit the dental school at the Makerere University College of Health Sciences. The students provide dental care to adults and children in isolated communities in Uganda.

A new initiative between dental students and adjunct faculty supervisors will began in summer 2018 to provide critical dental care, oral hygiene education, and dental supply distribution to under-served populations.

Support the Uganda Project – make an online gift by clicking here.