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The Himalayan Dental Project

Define the problem and solve it
The oral health care crisis in Ladakh was undeniably brought to our attention when a dentist from New Zealand who had come to Ladakh for a trekking expedition was curious about his impression that children living in such a remote area would have excellent quality teeth. We were all quite shocked when his random examination of about 50 students from the Lamdon School in Leh exposed an epidemic of tooth decay. Virtually every child had extremely decayed teeth despite the fact that many of them were less than 10 years old. From that need arose the concept and ambition of The Himalayan Dental Project. Over the next 10 years we collaborated with several large teams of international dentists from Singapore, New Zealand and The United States that came to Ladakh to set up rudimentary dental camps in remote locations to bring basic oral health care to those in such desperate need.

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Where we started in 2007

 It is impossible to overstate the contributions and inspirations in those first years provided by Dr Myra Elliott, a renowned oral surgeon from Singapore.  Myra mobilized impressive teams of dentists and oral health care professionals from Singapore and came to Ladakh determined to treat as many of the locals as possible.  Her teams examined and treated hundreds of patients living in some of the most remote areas in all of Ladakh.

Dr Myra Elliott

Dr Myra Elliott


These first humanitarian dental expeditions were extremely beneficial, but not sustainable as far as time and cost effectiveness.  The physicians were also restrained by water, space and electrical limitations as well as the perils of isolation in the event of equipment failure.  While we continued the humanitarian medical expeditions to the far reaches of the Indus and Nubra Valleys, we started plans to build a centralized treatment “basecamp” in the capital city of Leh where we could bring patients for vastly improved diagnosis and treatment after we identified their conditions in the field.

Construction began on the clinic complex in 2011 and today it is a fully operational dental clinic with virtually every modern facility for world class dentistry.  Our clinic is staffed by our resident dentist from Sweden, Dr Marie Nordstrom who, along with our support staff of nurses and hygienists, work together with our international dental volunteers to enable us to bring quality oral health care to the people of Ladakh free of charge.

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Where we are in 2017

Our dental clinic has four fully functional and autonomous treatment chairs in addition to two separate cleaning, scaling and dental hygiene stations  When we host large teams of dental volunteers, we can add 2>3 additional temporary stations to maximize our productivity potential.  We now have full radiology capability in addition to all the basic dental treatment and repair facilities.  Our mandate of "Extraction as a last resort" is supported by full endodontic equipment and supplies.  There are virtually no logistical limitations to the treatment we can bring to bear for the welfare of our patients.

Mission Statement for 2017

  • Continue our oral health education programs and distribution of free toothbrushes and toothpaste to the local schools.
  • Continue our daily operations in the dental clinic to provide excellent quality dental care to any person who requires it free of charge.
  • Expand the reach of the benefits we can bring to bear by sending screening teams out to distant locations to examine the inhabitants of remote villages and then transporting those who require dental treatment back to our main clinic facility
  • Hire locally trained dental hygienists and perhaps even a licensed dentist to work in the clinic to not only provide additional services, but also make our clinic an inspirational employment opportunity for local students who might be motivated to pursue a career in medicine with the assurance they can return home to gainful and beneficial employment in our clinic.
  • Expand our capabilities to Nepal where we have established an alliance with a wonderful dentist named Dr Tsering Gurung. Dr Gurung has a splendid dental clinic in Kathmandu and we have collaborated with her and her staff on a number of very beneficial and productive oral health care camps for orphans and monks in Kathmandu as well in the remote Manang region of Nepal. We want to bring her to Ladakh to work in our clinic during the summer monsoon in Nepal and share our capabilities and humanitarian aspirations with her clinic and staff in Nepal during the winter months in Ladakh when the clinic is not operational.
  • Continue to host highly skilled international surgical teams that can come to Ladakh and utilize the splendid surgical facilities at our partner hospital at The Mahabodhi Center in the village of Saboo. The 20 successful surgeries that Dr Myra Elliott and her team performed in 2016 have started such a positive word of mouth networking amongst the Ladakhi locals that we already have many similar cases requesting the same level of oral surgical treatment.
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Dentistry in Ladakh

August 25, 2009

(Article written by Dr. Vivienne Levy and published by The New Zealand Dental Association magazine May 2009 issue )   Dr Vivienne Levy journeys deep into India to help with the local tooth decay epidemic. ..   Ladakh Is an extremely remote region of India situated on the north side of the great Himalayan mountain…read more

Filed Under: Dental

A-dec Pac-1 portable dental unit performs brilliantly in the Himalayas

August 15, 2009

Through collaboration with major humanitarian organizations in the United States and Austria, a second portable dental control unit will be purchased in May of 2009. Rota-Dent, under the direction of Mr. LeRoy Benham and the sponsorship of Rotary Clubs of Newberg, Oregon are making available world class dental equipment at subsidized prices for humanitarian dental…read more

Filed Under: Dental

What we have done and what we need to do in Ladakh

August 15, 2009

1. Dr. Myra Elliott has now brought two major dental & medical teams to Ladakh in 2008 & 2009 and has successfully treated over 2,000 Ladakhi patients for a wide range of dental, visual and general health issues. 2. Dr. Marcus Ang, an eye specialist on the 2009 team, uncovered another major health crisis in the…read more

Filed Under: Dental

2009 Dental / Medical Expedition to Nubra Valley, Ladakh

August 15, 2009

Dr. Elliott’s team arrived in Nubra Valley and after a greeting by most of the community, immediately set up a fully operational dental clinic in the dining hall of Lamdon School in the main village of Disket. In addition, several other classrooms were utilized for private clinics specializing in eye care, general medical conditions as…read more

Filed Under: Dental, Himalayan Women's Health, Vision

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Vision Testimonial

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All those associated with The Himalayan Vision Project are grateful for the tireless and heroic efforts of the teams of international vision health care physicians and optometrists who have brought vastly improved quality of life to countless men, women and children of Ladakh over the past 7 years.

Our objectives and capabilities have taken a quantum leap forward by virtue of an alliance formed with the prestigious LV Prasad Eye Institute located in Hyderabad. This invaluable collaboration was made possible by the friendship and shared ideals of one of the world's most renowned and admired cornea and stem cell specialists, Dr Virender Sangwan. Dr Sangwan came to the aid of a Ladakhi police officer who was suffering from an extremely serious eye condition and through the successful treatment of that very fortunate individual has become a friend and inspiration to us all.

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Womens Health testimonial

Dr Quek Swee Chong

Dr Quek Swee Chong

MBBCh, BAO (Dublin) MRCOG (UK) FAMS (Singapore)

Dr Quek Swee Chong is a specialist in Obstetrics & Gynecology at the ACS Clinic for Women Gleneagles Medical Centre. He was formerly Senior Consultant & Head, Pre-invasive Disease & Screening Unit, Department of Gynaecological Oncology, KK Women’s & Children’s Hospital. He serves on the board of the International Federation of Colposcopy & Cervical Pathology. A former president of the Society of Colposcopy & Cervical Pathology of Singapore, he now sits on the present council.

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Clinic Testimonial

Fully functional humanitarian health care
for the people of Ladakh.

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His Holiness the Dalai Lama
blessing the Lamdon Clinic

The Lamdon Clinic now serves as "Basecamp" for our ambitious goal of bringing world class dental, vision and women's health care to the people of Ladakh. Not only will we continue to offer cost free treatments for all who come to our doors, but we will now also be sending mobile screening teams of medical professionals to drive or hike to the remotest villages and settlements in the Indus, Nubra and Zanskar Valley regions of Ladakh to educate, examine and if necessary transport patients who need treatment and rehabilitation back to our main clinic complex in Leh.

We draw our guidance from the compassionate inspiration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama who advocates doing all that is possible for those needlessly suffering or deprived of their basic human right of adequate medical care regardless of their religious loyalties, gender, citizenship or financial means.

We were greatly honored when His Holiness the Dalai Lama came to our clinic in 2012 and blessed it's capabilities and aspirations.

Coverage shown on Tibet Television network of His Holiness blessing the Lamdon Clinic

Dental Testimonial

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Julley everyone!  I'm Dr Marie Nordstrom, the resident dentist at the Himalayan Dental Project Clinic in Leh, Ladakh.  Two years ago I was working at a humanitarian dental clinic in Cambodia. When it was time to move on I was browsing around on the internet searching for another inspirational opportunity where I could volunteer my dental abilities and I came across the Himalayan Dental Project. I sent off an email expressing my interest to volunteer and within a few hours I had a reply from the project coordinator Bill Kite inviting me to join the the clinic team in Ladakh. After his first email I instinctively had a feeling that this would turn into something really significant and decided to book my flight to India and then up to Ladakh.  A short time later I found myself at more than 3,500m above sea level in the Himalayas with spectacular mountain views

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