About Smile Train

Smile Train is the world’s largest cleft-focused organisation, with a sustainable and local model of supporting surgery and other forms of essential care. Our unique “teach a person to fish” model focuses on training local professionals to provide world-class cleft care in their own communities. Those professionals then go on to train others, creating a sustainable system for long-term care.

Over the last 25+ years, we have supported more than 2 million safe and quality cleft surgeries for people of all ages, and we will continue our lifesaving work until everyone in need with a cleft has access to the care they deserve.

How does Smile Train help?

We locate children in need. Our local staff and in-country volunteers raise awareness about clefts and the services that Smile Train sponsors through media campaigns, visits to neighbouring communities, health worker outreach, and word of mouth.

We empower local medical professionals. By offering world-class training and financial support for treating clefts, Smile Train enables medical professionals around the world to provide children in need with the lifesaving surgery and related essential cleft care that they would not otherwise be able to access, all at no cost to their families.

We make long-term cleft care possible. Smile Train trains and supports local experts in non-surgical, comprehensive cleft treatments such as speech therapy, emotional support, nutrition services, and orthodontic care, so our patients can lead full and productive lives.

What makes us different?

Smile Train partners with medical professionals around the world to provide patients with high-quality cleft treatments in their own communities.

Our sustainable model makes us more efficient and effective than organisations that fly outside doctors on mission trips — when patients can receive care 365 days a year, every person can get the help they need at the time that’s best for them.

Our impact at a glance:

• £54 billion global economic impact of Smile Train’s surgical programme
• 2,000,000+ cleft surgeries for people of all ages since our founding in 1999
• 20,000+ trained medical professionals
• 95+ countries where Smile Train has sponsored cleft treatment
• Every 3 minutes another baby is born with a cleft
• 1 Goal: to give every child with a cleft the opportunity for a full and healthy life