Ertuğrul Sabah established the "Dental Health Care and Dentists Association" while working at Ege University Dentistry Faculty in 2001. As a visionary dentist, he had one thing in mind: to reach those who cannot reach current systems. For such an aim he gathered a group of volunteers such as dentists, doctorate students, nurses, and interns and developed a new way of service delivery: mobile dentistry units. Putting the disadvantaged communities' needs at heart, the units have targeted a wide range of marginalized groups such as low-income families, rural communities, and children at remote schools.

 

One such disadvantaged group that the Association targets are people with mental disabilities. People with mental disabilities who live at nursing homes or rehabilitation centers cannot simply access to services or demand professional help when they suffer from dental problems. The mobile dentistry units that Ertuğrul Sabah and his team developed aim to solve this problem easing service delivery. The mobile units, equipped with tools to provide services ranging from root canal treatment to cavity implementation takes services to the patients rather than taking patients to the services. With this new way of service delivery, he makes sure that the services reach those that are most in need.

 

Mobilizing a team of 1000 volunteers, working collaboratively with public and civil society institutions and leaving 57.000 kilometers behind, Ertuğrul Sabah and his team have reached 45.000 people with mental disabilities making a big difference in the lives of them.