Be the reason someone SMILES today! This is not just a cliche quote, but the guiding motto for Team ATL, a group of dental professionals headed to Ghana with nonprofit Operation International to provide much-needed dental care to the underserved community.

Led by Dr. Uday Parikh, the team has given back to the local community in Atlanta, Georgia in many different ways over the years, and we are now looking forward to serve outside of our comfort zone and to be in places where access to good care is limited. We want to share our experiences, knowledge, and resources to not only improve the care when we are there, but also to guide the local teams that work alongside us so that they can continue to build on those skills and hopefully pay it forward. Our goal is to serve as many people as we can (more than 400) and to build on the resources created by OI's Team Dental in 2025 to create proper infrastructure rooms at Holy Family Hospital in Techiman, Ghana.

Want to join us in making a difference? Any donation will help us get the necessary equipment and materials needed to provide life-changing and life-saving care to patients who are in dire need for help. Rest assured 100% of donations go toward the procurement of dental goods and services for our mission trips. Thank you in advance for your contribution to this cause, your support means so much to our team. Please note: each team member has a specific fundraising goal, if your team member has already hit their goal, consider spreading the love to another of our volunteers!

More About Team ATL:

Team ATL is a chapter of Operation International, a secular nonprofit that provides medical care to those in need in underserved countries. The team was founded in 2025 by Dr. Uday Parikh. In 2025, Dr. Parikh went on his first mission to Techiman, Ghana with his good friend and mentor Dr. Nilesh Patel, who leads OI's Team Dental. During the trip, Team Dental offered care and education to 450 patients in just six days. Dr. Parikh was inspired to start his own chapter after that trip. He says, "the joy of service and the feeling of gratitude that we got from those beautiful smiles that came from the hearts of the Techiman community left more of an impact to our team than what we did there."

Learn more about Team ATL here.

More About Operation International:

Operation International is a secular, non-political, humanitarian organization founded in 1996 by Medhat Allam, MD; Ravi Kothuru, MD; and Robert Mineo, CRNA under the original name of International Surgical Mission Support. The founders aspired to offer free medical care to children and adults suffering from the lack of basic health care in poor countries.

In our quest to advance human rights ideas, Operation International provides free medical care to people in need — regardless of gender, cultural, ethnic, political or religious affiliations. To ensure that our efforts impact underserved communities for years to come, we also offer education and training to local health care workers during each of our medical missions, as well as improve hospitals’ infrastructure through equipment donation.

Team NY, the first Operation International team, made its maiden mission to Haiti in 1997, where the founders of the organization witnessed firsthand the devastating effects of poverty and inadequate medical care.

Since the beginning, our teams of doctors, clinicians, nurses, and aides have expanded to include over 200 medical professionals in multiple Chapters located throughout the United States, the UK, and Hong Kong.

In our many medical missions to date, we have directly impacted the lives of thousands of people by performing life-saving and life-changing surgeries including cancer surgeries, sight restoration surgeries, burn reconstructive surgeries, corrective surgeries for congenital anomalies such as clubfoot and cleft palate, and obstetric and gynecological surgeries.

Help Build Life-Changing Dental Care in Ghana

Operation International's Team ATL is heading on their first mission to Ghana in July

Team Members