38 facial cleft reconstructive surgeries were accomplished this past weekend for these infants. The surgeries were performed under specialized pediatric anesthesia during the August 2021 Rotary-Smiles International partnership mission in Mexico.
Not counting the vast humanitarian value, the estimated cost benefit, using USA values, was well over $200K USD which included the donated hospital care, anesthesia, CranioMaxillofacial surgery, nursing, and complex- staged treatment plan formulations.
These children will usually need 5-7 staged treatments done over their growth and development, and when Thousand Smiles treat their primary procedure, they are fully accepted into their program. They then plan for these children to receive each of their staged treatments, which enable them to enter and contribute to society with abilities to eat, breath, speak, hear, and SMILE properly, allowing them to hold and perform any future employment.
Credit goes to the Thousand Smiles team who donate their skills as well as pay their own travel expenses, Rotary District 5340's Club of Carlsbad (including Dr. Jeffrey Moses, Surgeon), the Solmar Foundation, H. ESPECIALIDADES, Club Rotario Los Cabos, the program's Communications Director, Leticia Gottwald with the Gottwald University and follow up Maxillofacial Surgeon, Dra. Macrina Bustos of MaxiMed.
Please like their FaceBook Page for SmilesInternationalFoundation.org where you can get updates of Rotary Club of Carlsbad's other children's mission projects in Tecate, Mexico.