Misheel Kids Foundation | Bringing brighter smiles to children
Equipped with two mobile dental clinics, our dentists can now provide treatment almost anywhere along the road.

dental care in remote areas

Dental Treks

In 2018, MKF undertook its first Dental Trek; a 2000 km tour to the Tsaatan population, in the north of the country. The goal of this and subsequent treks, now conducted annually, is to provide support in areas that lack adequate dental care.

The Dental Treks are an essential pillar of our project, as they allow us to reach and provide dental care not only to children in the capital, but also to children in remote areas of Mongolia who have no other access to oral hygiene instruction and dental treatment. 

The first trek in 2018 was still managed with rented equipment and instruments borrowed from clinics, with the support of a German dentist and a Mongolian dentist. In 2019, we were able to undertake the journey with two of our own mobile dental units, financed by project funds from the German Embassy in Ulaanbaatar with the amount of € 25,000, a Swiss dentist (Smile Clinix) and two Mongolian dentists.

The future of Dental Treks

Assuring the continuity

For the future more Dental Treks are planned with the support of project funds from the German Embassy in Ulaanbaatar, at amount of € 30.000. The funds are going towards the purchase of a complete set of instruments for the mobile clinic as well as filling materials. During the upcoming trek we will benefit from the experience gained during the previous tours to the Tsaataan population. These experiences will also help us to increase the reach of our work over a pilot period of 3 years, collect data, review and evaluate already collected data. For 2021, we aim to reach and treat at least 900 children on the trek to rural areas in Mongolia.

Thanks to the project funding from the German Embassy, we have been able to continuously increase the number of children treated.

Equipped with two mobile dental clinics, our dentists can now provide treatment almost anywhere along the road. In addition to treatments, our dentists on the road focus on oral hygiene and healthy nutrition to prevent future dental damage as much as possible. The mobile treatments range from check-ups and dental cleanings to root canal treatments, fillings and extractions.

Furthermore, an additional element of the treks are visits to the so-called ger districts of Ulaanbaatar, which are planned for 2021. Here, we will also be able to care for those children that we are unable to reach through our partnership with Ulaanbaatar’s day care centers and orphanages, and who do not have the ability to visit dental clinics in the city. 

Amount of treated patients during the Dental Treks according their respective year

  • Dental Trek 2018 - 90 patients treated - pilot project
  • Dental Trek 2019 - 349 patients treated
  • Dental Trek 2020 - 728 patients treated - impaired by the Covid-19 pandemic
  • Dental Treks 2021 - 2354 patients treated - 2 Treks
  • Dental Treks 2022 - 3589 patients treated - 2 Treks

Planing Dental Treks

What it takes

Despite the generous project funding, we continue to rely on support for logistics, vehicles and local dentists’ salaries.

Each dental trek, involving up to 10 people, lasts between 14 and 20 days; in addition to the dentists, there is a cook and driver. Vehicles, fuel and food must be procured and financed for the entire trip, as well as accommodation in Ulaanbaatar for the supporting foreign dentists. We are supported by the Hotel Kempinski Khan Palace Ulaanbaatar as well as Starchase Automotive LLC, MSM Group LLC, Expat Adventure Travel LLC & Mrs. Tilla Deta (GIZ).

Since the beginning of the Dental Treks the Swiss dentist Dr. Jacques Schultheiss from Basel (Smile Clinix) supports us in our mobile missions.

Each dental trek, involving up to 10 people, lasts between 14 and 20 days; in addition to the dentists, there is a cook and driver.

Dentists on the road

Dental Trek Impression