For the Special Olympics Iraq floorball team, success isn’t just measured by earning medals, it’s also about taking every opportunity to improve their health. After arriving in Turin for the Special Olympics World Winter Games 2025, the team’s first stop was Inalpi Arena. Although Inapli was the competition site for their floorball matches, the team’s initial visit was not for practice or competition, but for six of the eight athletes to receive their first-ever health screenings at Special Olympics Healthy Athletes®.
At Healthy Athletes, the team started with Special Olympics Special Smiles®, the oral healthcare discipline. For many athletes, accessing dental care can be difficult. Dental professionals are often unfamiliar with the unique oral health concerns and inclusive best practices for effectively caring for and communicating with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Special Olympics aims to address these knowledge gaps by providing inclusive health education and training to healthcare professionals and students.
The need for such training is great: Special Smiles screenings have found that nearly 45% of athletes have gum disease and 36% have untreated tooth decay. Through Special Smiles, athletes identify concerns through routine dental health screenings, learn comprehensive oral health information, and receive recommendations for community-based follow-up care.
Once at Special Smiles, the team made their way through four stations: Check In & History, Dental Screening, Oral Hygiene Instruction, and Check Out. The stations encourage good oral hygiene practices by teaching athletes' healthy habits they can apply in their daily lives.
Reflecting on the experience, the team’s coach Dr. Shaker Al-Halaf mentioned, "The athletes learned some simple but important skills, like how to properly brush and take care of their teeth. Many of them didn’t know the correct way to brush or how often they should do it.” Dr. Shaker Al-Halaf continued, “They also learned why it’s important to visit the dentist regularly and eat less sugar."
Following the completion of all four stations, all eight of the athletes received dental referrals, with some athletes needing routine treatments like cleanings or fillings, and others requiring more serious care. Additionally, five of the eight athletes were identified with signs of tooth decay. Through the Special Smiles referral network, athletes whose screenings revealed the need for follow up care were connected with dentists in their local communities to receive recommended further attention, preventing existing issues from becoming larger and more painful.
By the end of the screening each athlete felt more confident in his abilities to maintain proper oral health. The team’s Delegation Assistant Liaison Dr. Ako Kaky shared, “After attending the screening, they felt more informed and reassured. It [Special Smiles] helped them understand the importance of regular dental check-ups and gave them more confidence in taking care of their teeth.”
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