The Straumann Group Foundation

Expanding access to oral healthcare in Brazil through New Smile Expeditions

Learn more
Stories

Expanding access to oral healthcare in Brazil through New Smile Expeditions

Through a multi-year partnership, the Straumann Group Foundation, Neodent, Straumann Group Brazil, and implementation partners SESI and Barco Sorriso are expanding access to essential dental care for underserved and remote populations across Brazil.

By combining mobile outreach on land and river-based missions in the Amazon, the program addresses both immediate care needs and long-term oral health outcomes at scale.

The challenge

Despite having a high number of dental professionals, millions of people in Brazil still lack access to adequate oral healthcare—particularly in remote and socially vulnerable regions.

Geographic barriers, limited infrastructure, and social inequality prevent many communities, including indigenous and riverside populations, from accessing even basic dental services. Untreated conditions can lead to pain, reduced quality of life, and long-term health consequences.

Our approach

This program delivers care where it is most needed through a dual delivery model that combines scalability with reach into the most remote areas.

  • Mobile dental clinics (land-based)
    In partnership with SESI, mobile dental units operate across road-accessible regions, delivering standardized, high-quality care and enabling recurring access in defined communities.
  • River-based outreach missions (Amazon region)
    In collaboration with Barco Sorriso, floating clinics conduct multi-day missions to reach remote and hard-to-access populations, including indigenous and riverside communities, delivering comprehensive dental treatment.
  • Integrated care and prevention
    Across both models, the program provides preventive, restorative, and urgent dental care, alongside oral health education and community outreach.

Who we support

The program focuses on underserved populations facing significant barriers to care, including:

  • communities in remote and rural regions
  • indigenous and riverside populations in the Amazon
  • children and families with limited access to dental services

In its first year, the program aims to reach more than 3,000 beneficiaries, with potential for expansion in subsequent years.

Scale and reach

  • Multi-year program running from 2026 to 2028
  • More than 3,000 patients reached in the first year
  • Services delivered across multiple Brazilian states and remote Amazon regions
  • Dual delivery model combining land-based and river-based care 

Partnership

This initiative brings together a unique ecosystem of partners:

  • Straumann Group Foundation (SGF) – funding, governance, and impact oversight
  • Neodent – strategic partner, coordination, and co-funding
  • Straumann Group Brazil – local coordination and project management
  • SESI – delivery of land-based mobile dental services
  • Barco Sorriso – delivery of river-based missions in remote regions

Together, the partners combine global expertise with strong local presence to deliver scalable and sustainable impact.

Impact

The program is designed to create measurable and lasting impact:

  • improving access to dental care in underserved regions
  • increasing use of preventive and restorative services
  • improving oral health awareness in communities
  • reducing structural barriers to care
  • creating a scalable and replicable program model

Impact is tracked through data-driven monitoring, including clinical data, epidemiological insights, and structured KPI reporting.

Sustainability

The program is designed for long-term impact by:

  • integrating services with local healthcare systems and partners
  • building on established NGOs with strong field presence
  • focusing on scalable and repeatable delivery models
  • prioritizing recurring access over one-off interventions

Continuous evaluation ensures efficiency, scalability, and sustained outcomes over time.

Looking ahead

New Smile Expeditions represents a shift from isolated outreach activities to a structured, scalable program model.

By combining innovation, strong partnerships, and data-driven execution, the initiative aims to create lasting improvements in access to oral healthcare and contribute to a more equitable healthcare system in Brazil.

Additional information and useful links

 

 

Our Stories