Phase 1 of Project Sonrisa was launched in March 2005.
Together with some help from the local authorities of the San Martin Municipality, a team of trained volunteers started dental hygiene sessions for slum children (and when possible their parents).
Today, after almost two years the dental hygiene sessions continue at a rate of about two a month. Our sessions still run entirely with volunteers and we use pedagogical methods such as music and puppets to teach children the basic rules of dental and oral hygiene. All children are registered in the program.

Due to the particular environment the children are coming from, each session is followed by back up sessions as a means to constantly reinforce the importance of hygiene all year round. At the end of each session free toothbrushes and fluoridated toothpaste are handed out to the participants.

For most of the children, it is their first toothbrush.
We work through the slums using the soup kitchen and kindergarten network to ensure that training takes place in a safe and orderly environment and to benefit from the collaboration and support of both the teachers and local volunteers working in the kitchens.

Since March 2005 to date (August 2006) Todos Juntos has distributed over 1500 toothbrushes and 1300 tubes of toothpaste to slum children and their parents.