On February 16, 2026 as the celebrations of the 2026 National Dental Health Month in the Philippines started to gather momentum, a memorable event was happening at a village in Las Piñas, Philippines
Dentistry For Every Village Foundation was at the midst of opening a dental clinic at the Our Lady of the Pillar Parish at Pilar Village, Las Piňas, Philippines. Construction of the dental clinic designed by the staff of the Foundation was funded by the Parish administration headed by Rev. Fr. Christian Gabinete. The foundation provided all the dental equipment, instruments and dental supplies. Fr. Gabinete blessed the dental clinic before it was officially opened for business.
The dental clinic was built to provide free dental services to the poor and neglected families that reside within the area of responsibility of the parish. There are close to 2 thousand households in the area that are considered below the poverty line.
Dental services will be provided by volunteer dentists from the Philippine Dental Association, Las Piňas Chapter.
The dental clinic although modest in size, was provided some of the best dental equipment and instruments available in the market.
Amongst these are:
- A fully automated dental chair and unit augmented with an intraoral camera for enhanced case presentation and diagnosis. Air under pressure to run the handpieces
and air syringes is through a 36-liter dental air compressor. - An extra-oral vacuum station powered by a Dental-Eze® vacuum motor system to support oral surgery procedures.
- A digital peri-apical x-ray sensor run by a dedicated computer system
- An18-liter stream/pressure sterilizer
- A 10-liter ultrasonic dental instrument cleaner.
- Many hand instruments and supplies for oral surgical procedures including forceps for both adults and children, dental elevators and surgical periotomes for atraumatic extraction
- A complete armamentarium for endodontic procedures including a cordless rechargeable endodontic motor, rubber dam accessories and numerous hand-held and motor driven K-files
- A complete instrumentation for composite restorative procedures including restorative filling materials and a light curing unit
- Numerous dental supplies like PPE, 2×2 gauze, cotton rolls, disposable face masks and face shields, various size dental needles and anesthesia, toothbrushes and toothpaste, paper supplies and even cleaning solutions for the cleaning lady.
- An emergency oxygen tank fully filled and ready for use.
- An ABC fire extinguisher to comply with Fire Department regulations.
One interesting feature of the clinic is a custom designed sterilization cabinet fitted with a UV-C germicidal light bulb to house the instrument trays that contains hand instruments for restorative, endodontic procedure, oral prophylaxis and periodontic procedures. The UV-C germicidal lights keep the instruments germ free.
The aim of the dental clinic besides providing free dental services for the poor and underserved is to set a standard for dental clinics in the community in so far as equipment and instrumentation are concerned and a floor design to provide seamless operational flow allowing patient comfort, practical workflow and the implementation of workplace safety and infection control protocols.
The foundation wishes to extend its sincere gratitude to the International College of Dentists Global Visionary Fund and the Henry Schein Cares Foundation for their unconditional support that allowed the completion of the dental clinic. The same goes to the numerous donors that provided resources to purchase many of the equipment and supplies, notably Dr. Dennie Leung of Northridge, California and Dr. Nelson Gaba of Las Piñas City, Philippines.
A huge thank you also goes to the Our Lady of the Pillar Parish Administration for providing the space to build the clinic, the funds for the construction and for agreeing to manage and support the clinic to allow continuous free dental services for the poor and underserved in its area of responsibility.
Our gratitude also goes to the Officers and members of the Philippine Dental Association, Las Piñas Chapter who will provide the actual treatment for the patients and the D4EVF Philippine Section members, Dr. Maria Leah Imperio, Dr. Cesar del Rosario, Dr. Adrian Picardal, Dr. Luz Villanueva and Dr. Madel Picardal for spending 9 days helping set up the clinic.
Thank you as well to Patrick Aurelio of Radio Mindanao Network (RMN) Station DYXL for the media coverage including a half hour stint at a talk show hosted by “Radioman” Jenny Pahilanga. RMN also provided the nutrition for all the patients and volunteer dentists and Parish Staff during the dental mission.
The dental clinic at the Pilar Village is the 9th charity dental clinic built and or equipped by the Dentistry For Every Village Foundation and the Marcela and Edgardo de la Vega Living Trust for the people of the Philippines.
Following the official opening of the clinic, an outreach dental mission was conducted, and more than 150 patients were provided free dental services.
The Dentistry for Every Village Foundation, Inc., raises funds by seeking grants and donations to build dental clinics. These clinics are donated to health care institutions that have the resources to house the facility, experiences and expertise to run them efficiently, and whose management is supportive of the cause.
