Dentsply Sirona, the world’s largest manufacturer of professional dental products and technologies, announced a three-way partnership with FDI World Dental Federation (FDI) and Smile Train, the world’s largest cleft-focused organization, to develop global standard protocols for digital cleft treatment that will increase access to digital treatments for patients with clefts and advance cleft care for the 1 in 700 babies born with cleft lip and/or palate around the globe.

The three partners will jointly work on integrating digital workflows and sustainable solutions into these new protocols as well as creating and providing the necessary clinical education infrastructure to oral health professionals around the world. The unique partnership also includes designing and setting up online courses and webinars to introduce dental professionals around the world to digital cleft care.  

Prior to this new partnership, Dentsply Sirona pledged a five-million-dollar donation to Smile Train as part of a five-year commitment to help children around the world gain access to cleft treatment, offering them the chance to live full and healthy lives.  

“At Dentsply Sirona, we live our sustainability strategy every day in numerous ways. One of the most rewarding aspects is working with Smile Train and FDI to be able to offer the best care possible to children with clefts,” says Jorge M. Gomez, Chief Financial Officer and Head of the Dentsply Sirona Sustainability Program. “Giving these children healthy smiles by utilizing the most advanced digital technologies is part of our larger sustainability goal to improve global oral health care and create millions of healthy smiles around the world. We are happy to contribute our knowledge and technologies for this important cause.”  

“We are proud to be working with Dentsply Sirona and Smile Train to increase the global access to the best possible cleft care,” says Prof. Ihsane Ben Yahya, President, FDI World Dental Federation. “Cleft surgeries and cleft care benefit hugely from digitization and together with our partners we work fervently on providing oral health professionals, especially in limited-resource settings and remote regions, with the infrastructure and training necessary to correctly use these digital technologies.” 

“Children with clefts are more susceptible to poor oral health which can greatly impact their speech, ability to eat, and their overall well-being,” says Susannah Schaefer, President & Chief Executive Officer, Smile Train. “We are delighted that our new partnership with Dentsply Sirona and FDI ensures that Smile Train centers around the world will have access to digital treatment protocols that integrate the latest, newest technologies to provide best-in-class digital oral healthcare.”