I have worked as a dentist in several African countries – including Rwanda – and I have repeatedly seen children suffering from severe toothache and untreated cavities.

 

I especially remember a ten-year-old boy and his younger brother who came walking hand in hand to the clinic after walking for two hours to get help.

They both had tooth pain, and I had to extract their permanent molars, which were completely destroyed by decay.

When my anesthetic ran out, many children were still waiting outside. That day I went home knowing I no longer wanted to treat the consequences – I wanted to work on the solution.

At the same time, I want to influence policy.

 

I began to think about how Sweden succeeded in improving children’s oral health in the 1960s.

The key was school-based fluoride rinsing and daily toothbrushing, integrated into the school system.

A simple, inexpensive, and highly effective model that nearly eradicated caries among Swedish schoolchildren.

I realized that Rwanda could make the same transformation – but in its own way, grounded in local engagement and women’s leadership.

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To safely introduce fluoride rinsing, we first need to know how much fluoride is already present in drinking water.

If the levels are too low, fluoride should be added; if too high, it becomes a health risk and must be reduced.

 

In several parts of Rwanda, fluoride levels in groundwater are so high that the water is unfit and unsafe for consumption.

This not only causes dental and skeletal fluorosis but also affects children’s development and women’s health during pregnancy.

Our goal is to purify the water at the sources near schools, ensuring that all children have access to clean, safe drinking water while participating in daily toothbrushing and fluoride rinse programs.

In this way, water purification, education, and preventive healthcare come together in one sustainable system — giving every child the chance to grow up healthy and to learn.

 

It was at this point that I met Professor Prosun Bhattacharya and Erika Svensson Rössner at KTH.

Prosun has developed simple, cost-effective methods for measuring fluoride levels in water, and Erika shares my passion for linking water, health, and sustainable community development.

Together, we realized we could combine our knowledge into a single goal: to build a national program where water quality, oral health, and women’s empowerment go hand in hand.

 

In Rwanda, it is mainly women who carry water, work in schools, and care for the health of children.

That is why they are at the center of our initiative.

We will train women who collect water to measure fluoride levels so they can work as community water monitors.

We will also train teachers to educate children about toothbrushing, fluoride rinsing, and basic oral health, embedding this knowledge directly into the school system where it can be sustained for generations.

 

Female health workers will be trained to become local oral health experts, and we also plan to establish a local toothbrush factory, providing women with education and employment in producing sustainable toothbrushes — and eventually toothpaste.

 

Today, Rwanda imposes high taxes on toothbrushes and toothpaste, as they are classified as cosmetic products.

As a result, these basic hygiene items have become so expensive that most families simply cannot afford them.

In addition, because toothbrushes and toothpaste are not currently produced in Rwanda, they are subject to high import taxes, which makes the prices even higher.

 

I want to change that — to remove the cosmetic tax and instead have these products recognized as essential health items, with reduced VAT, just like other preventive healthcare measures.

My dream is to start local production in Rwanda, employing women and using biodegradable materials to make affordable, sustainable toothbrushes and toothpaste for everyone.

 

All of this aligns with WHO’s new vision of oral health – recognizing that oral health is a fundamental part of general health and essential to the well-being of women and children.

 

This project is not only about preventing cavities – it’s about education, empowerment, and creating opportunity.

Because when women gain knowledge and resources, entire communities change.

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Project owner and Dentist,
Camilla Blomstersjö