In recognition of his tireless work promoting oral health amongst children in Nepal, La Trobe Rural Health School’s Ron Knevel has won this year’s Social Responsibility Award from the Global Child Dental Fund (GCDF) and the International Federation of Dental Hygienists, (IFDH).
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For a decade, Ron has funded his own travel to Nepal twice yearly to help educate children, parents and the wider community in oral health and tooth decay prevention.
His first visit confirmed it was urgently needed.
"After examining the oral health of 350 children in rural communities, we found that only four of them had a healthy mouth. All the others had gum disease and untreated tooth decay,’ he said.
"I know oral pain affects kids daily lives – they have problems chewing, sleeping and become self-conscious about their appearance. I wanted to do something about that for these children and this project was borne of that," he said.
