Children: “A smile is worth double”, 72 hours of joy therapy and 2,100 children visited in Italian hospitals

MILAN – Attention to others and small gestures of solidarity can have an important impact, especially on the life of the weakest. To remember it, on the occasion of the World Volunteer Day (today, December 5) is Straumann Group – global leader in implantology and orthodontic solutions that restore smile and confidence – which in early 2022, as part of the annual project “A smile is worth double”, he decided to create a synergy with Doctor Smile Foundation – the first non-profit organization to bring clown therapy to Italy – with the intention of bringing more smiles to children in difficulty and with disabilities.

Supported 5 hospital facilities. In fact, during the year, five hospitals, disability institutes and pediatric hospices located in Northern, Central and Southern Italy were supported, for a total of 190,000 smiles and 72 hours of clown-therapy in favor of hospitalized children, as well as to care and aid for 2,100 fragile children. Among the healthcare facilities that have benefited from the collaboration between Straumann Group And Doctor Smile Foundation include the Social Cooperative Society “The seed” of Cardano al Campo (Varese), which offers socio-medical and educational services for children with disabilities and for families; the ASST Grande Ospedale Metropolitano Niguarda in Milan, in particular for pre- and post-operative care; and the Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza hospital in San Giovanni Rotondo (Foggia), for the oncohematology department. For each, 350 children were involved and visited, with 30,000 smiles given and 12 hours of smile therapy offered. The oncohematology department of the Modena hospital will also receive the same support during the month of December.

The benefits of the initiative are diverse. In fact, it has been demonstrated that smile therapy is a valid aid for the management and treatment of the disease: it reduces the use of analgesics (-20%), hospitalization times (up to 50% less) and clinical improvement (-1.6 days); moreover, it increases the immune defenses (+94%) improving the clinical conditions and the level of endorphins (+90%) with a consequent increase in the pain threshold. Doctors and hospital structures can also benefit directly from the Foundation’s activities: some studies have shown that medical personnel experience less stress and work more efficiently and that savings on costs can be achieved for the hospital.