ARLINGTON, Mass. — In May, the Oral Health Foundation for Children of Armenia (OHFAR) hosted its inaugural program in the area at the Armenian Cultural Foundation.

On hand were several of the organization’s founders who spoke about their efforts to bring pediatric dentistry, as well as dental hygiene in rural Armenia up to the level of those in developed nations.

Before OHFAR, there was its parent organization, the Armenian International Dental Association (AIDA), which since 1995 has been working to help children in rural parts of Armenia, and later Karabakh (Artsakh). AIDA was created as an umbrella organization, under which came regional Armenian medical associations from Ontario and Quebec in Canada, as well as those from the US, France, Brazil and Armenia.

A study AIDA had done in Armenia showed that in 2014, showed that 95 percent of children suffered from cavities in their primary and permanent teeth. A second study in 2022 showed the figures remained steady, while the most recent survey showed about 91.7 percent of young children have decayed baby teeth, and 87 percent of 12-year-olds have damaged permanent teeth. In addition, about half of all children show signs of early gum disease.

Dr. Berdj Kiladjian

Dr. Aram Sirakian spoke about OHFAR and its goals at the May event. Sirakian and Dr. Zareh Ouzounian of Toronto founded AIDA during the Armenian Medical International Foundation in Boston in 1995.

“Our organization has been active in Armenia and Artsakh with the mission of educating, treating and improving oral health in our homeland,” Sirakian said.

He went on to explain, “The purpose of this evening is to introduce to you the newest chapter of our mission: OHFAR,” he said. “We hope to gain your support as we continue to strive toward our ultimate goal: healthy smiles for every child and every Armenian in our nation.”

Sirakian said oral diseases worldwide affect 3.5 billion people worldwide, but most cases are entirely preventable.

OHFAR was officially registered in Armenian in 2024, a continuation the work carried out in Artsakh the last 20 years, under the aegis of the NGO Hand in Hand.

Rounding out the OHFAR Executive Board members are Dr. Berdj Kiladjian, Dr. Raffi Chalian, Dr. Harmik Minassian, Dr. Arnie Weiss and Dr. Vicken Ohannessian.

The organization, Sirakian said, has held many events around the world, but never one in Boston, where the majority of its board members are based.

Pediatric Dental Care in Rural Armenia

The World Dental Federation (FDI) has designated March 20 and OHFAR members wanted to take advantage of the occasion this year. “Our goal was to bring this campaign to Armenia,” Sirakian said, calling it Jpitor (Smiling Day) and as such, on that day, visiting oral surgeons and dentists went to the school in the village of Akner in Syunik. There they held a dental clinic and also showed the children, their parents and teachers, how to brush and floss and urged the parents to enforce a strict brushing regimen at home.

At the event, the Akner school principal thanked the organization, noting that on that day OHFAR specialists had treated 127 children and treated them with more than 450 fillings.

The prevalence of cavities among children needs to be a top priority, all the speakers noted.

Sirakian explained that it is not just the scarcity of dentists that is the problem; few adults are concerned with children brushing their teeth. While parents know basic hygiene, the speakers said, fewer understand the full preventative benefits of daily flossing or fluoride rinses.

Another reason for pediatric cavities is diet.

“One of the reasons is that our Armenian children love sweets,” he said, emphasizing that “oral disease has far-reaching consequences that go far beyond the mouth, affecting nutrition, education, self-esteem, overall health and even national productivity.”

“This is compounded by outdated equipment and uneven distribution of dental practices, most of which are concentrated in the capital city of Yerevan,” he said.

Currently there are no dental health policy campaigns by the government or any gathering of data.

“We formed the OHFAR with the goal of helping implement all of the above,” Sirakian said.

On the Ground in Rural Armenia

OHFAR President Dr. Berdj Kiladjian, one of the founding members of AIDA, spoke next.

Harkening back to AIDA’s formation, he said, “We all started to work together to see how we could help.”

AIDA members for the past couple of years made mission trips to Armenia for brief periods, visiting rural dental offices where they would see patients.

However, Kiladjian said, upon their return, the members realized that the need was far greater than what they could provide in such short visits.

“We realized it’s helping but it’s not even a drop in the bucket. I thought if we are going to make a difference, we have to have a bigger presence and a clinic that is staffed by local dentists so we can provide continuous care,” he said.

Previously, the group had focused much of their attention on Artsakh, where speakers said residents had the lowest level of dental care. The group had opened free dental clinics in Shushi, Hadrut, Martakert and Martuni. “Then we decided to have a mobile clinic that would take us to the villages,” Kiladjian said.

Of course with the war and eventual loss of Artsakh, the efforts there stopped.

Kiladjian noted, “The best way to make an impact is to start treating children. If we really build a solid foundation, that’s how we can build the country.”

In 2014 they decided to concentrate on children, so that they could build a lifetime of good dental hygiene.

“We focused on children and it started to pay off,” Kiladjian said. “We saw incredible amounts of results.”

The group in Artsakh offered more than 160,000 free dental visits, serving more than 10,000 children. Of course, all operations there ceased in 2023, after the takeover by Azerbaijan.

They had to leave everything, including their mobile dental clinic.

Dr. Arnold Weiss

Next to speak was Dr. Arnold Weiss, with both Kiladjian and Sirakian offering profuse praise. Weiss, Kiladjian said, frequently accompanied him there.

Weiss has “become an invaluable part of our mission, teaching our dentists not only clinical skills but behavior management techniques, all without speaking a word of Armenian. His dedication is truly unmatched,” Sirakian said.

In his comments, Weiss noted that in the past year alone, he had visited Armenia four times to make sure dentists there have acquired the highest skillsets.

Weiss, added, “I feel like it’s my second home.”

He showed a slide presentation about the group’s work in rural Armenia, explaining the group’s approach to pediatric dentistry

Adamnabus

Adamnabus Mobile Clinic

OHFAR has five objectives: teaching, advocacy, care for children, research, advocacy and prevention. All these goals require reaching the rural clients, hence their mobile clinic, Weiss said.

In 2025, OHFAR launched its mobile clinic, called Adamnabus, a bus outfitted with state-of-the-art treatment and data collection. Individuals and municipalities interested in receiving the services of Adamnabus in the provinces can contact the organization on its website and leave a request for a visit.

“Our objective is to have zero children with untreated tooth decay by age 15,” Weiss said. “We want to make oral health a top national priority. It is not a priority at all now among the organizations of the garment and even among physicians.”

The bulk of the money for the retrofitted bus was mostly raised in 2023, at a gala in Lyon, France, with the participation of the municipality, the local Armenian dental association, AIDA, Rotary International, Alan K. and Isabelle DerKazarian, the Armenian Canadian Medical Association of Ontario and Dr. Harmik Minassian.

Dr. Berdj Kiladj...

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