Matt admitted to being terrible at golf so on Fridays he works with babies with cleft palates as well as the charity Wish for a Smile. The first "wish for a smile" patient in 2011 was Evan Hill who was on Campbell Live asking for help to fix his teeth and NZ raised $180,000. Part of this funding was put aside for Evan and the rest pledged to Wish for a Smile. Since then over 440 Kiwi Kids have accessed donated orthodontic treatment which equates to over $3m.
It was a delight to host and listen to Nicole's brother Matt Barker and his charitable work with Wish for a Smile. Matt Barker - Chair of Wish for a Smile charitable trust. Chair of NZOA mentoring committee, Chair Hutt Hospital maxillofacial multidisciplinary team, Trustee FORENZAO (research foundation). Matt outlined that as an orthodonist the main problems with teeth is that individuals either have too many teeth or not enough teeth, or their jaw is in the wrong position which can require facial reconstruction. Matt is on the Hutt Hospital Cleft palate team with a special interest in nasoalveolar moulding. Cleft palate is when the jaw is not formed as it should at about 6 weeks into a pregnancy and happens to about 1 in every 1,000 babies.
The age of the recipients should be between 11 and 16 years old. There is an application process that includes a character reference as the recipient is expected to look after their braces and the family need to contribute $10 per week for 80 weeks to cover administration and extraction costs and do 20 hours of voluntary work in their local community. The applicants are graded based on the degree of wonky teeth, psychoscial and financial factors as the Trust was set up to help low socioeconimic families. Boulcott and Bowen Hospitals in Wellington support the charity with surgeries and Wish for a Smile have partnerships with Southern Cross in Auckland, Christchurch and Tauranga. St George's Hospital in Christchurch is another partner and the Clare Foundation donated $25,000 per annum for 3 yeras or othognathic sugery in ares where it is not publicly funded.
Matt is was great to hear your story and get to know another club members family. Thank you for the great work you do.