Partnership Projects of Children’s Lifeline™ & Smiles International

• Total Patient Selection Pool to date: 386
  Total number of patients treated at the clinic hospital : 50
• Total number of Anesthesia Surgical Patients: 17
• Orthognathic Reconstruction patients at H+Mas hospital: 1
• Days of Hospital Especialidades- operating room use: 5
• Days of H+MAS -operating room/Intensive care room use: 1
• Relative value of cases if performed in the USA at hospital setting with specialist anesthesia , surgeons, and nursing facility charges: $407,900.00 USD

The Team

Team members working at the August 2026 CaboSmiles clinic:

Smiles International Foundation (SIF) with their professional volunteers coming from California, Calgary (Canada), Fargo North Dakota, and throughout the United States donated their caring love, skills, time, and finances to provide charitable treatments and surgeries for 50 facial-cleft difference-affected patients located in Southern Baja Mexico who were selected from 386 registered patients. Some patients received travel assistance coming to Cabo San Lucas via the DIF, a Mexican family-assistance program collaborating with the Rotary Club of Los Cabos, to come for the clinic from distances as far as 9-10 hours away. Retired Craniomaxillofacial Surgeon, Dr. Jeff Moses, SIF President/Founder & Rotarian from RC of New Braunfels District 5840, Texas, led the mission team. In the tradition of Rotary, Dr. Moses exchanged Rotary Club Flags with RCLC President, Enrique Vasquez. (see photo)

Because of this mission’s philosophy of maximizing the valuable and limited resource of advanced pediatric anesthesia, multiple complex procedures were performed on each of these patients during surgery. Eighty reconstructive procedures were accomplished during the week of treatment at the H. Especialidades surgical center and H+MAS hospital facilities.

A Positive Legacy of Surgeries

Leadership was pleased that another of our patients, treated from infancy and having staged-sequential surgical reconstructions over the previous 14 years at our CSL mission clinics, was ready for her final phase of facial reconstructive surgery. Facial reconstruction of her jaw, chin, maxilla, and nose using Orthognathic surgery was accomplished utilizing custom CAD-CAM 3-D titanium plates and screws donated by KLS Martin Corp. These procedures were performed by one of our Craniomaxillofacial Surgeons, Dr. Graham Cobb, at H+MAS, a second hospital facility. H+MAS donated its operating and recovery facilities for this due to the complex needs for overnight recovery relative to our other outpatient procedures performed at the H. Especialidades surgical center.

This complex facial bone reconstruction, requiring repositioning of five facial segments, included harvesting of her hip bone for grafting. Our surgical team accomplished this on the first Monday morning before returning to our regular outpatient clinic hospital, H.de Especialidades, which is donated for our use every six months by Rotarian, Dr. Alex Avalos.

A Real Surprise Next Door

An additional surprise was the birth of a child with bilateral cleft lip and palate to a family that had no history of facial clefting in other family members. This birth occurred in the delivery room adjacent to our clinic operations and we were able to give on-the-spot counseling to the family and their pediatrician about what to expect throughout the child’s development. Additionally, SIF VP Maribel Moses entered the family and baby into the program which offers all the staged surgical corrections throughout his growth and development, giving great comfort to the mother and father.

Apert’s Syndrome

Here is a family with Apert’s Syndrome (Acryocephalo Syndactyly) illustrating how the passing of genetics of these facial cleft differences follows lineage. The boy was operated last February 2026 by Dr. Fahad Cadili and has a wonderful result with a closed palate, although the boy will face many more challenging corrections throughout his lifetime to achieve better functionality

His mother has had orbital surgical correction to prevent ocular injury due to resulting dysmorphological growth of the orbits following premature cranial suture closures, and the boy is blessed with less dysfunctional morphologic positioning. Note the digital and feet dysplasia as well, being part of additional syndromology.

Ongoing Work and Support

It is confirmed again that these clinics produce a valuable outcome for the longitudinal care for the children affected with facial cleft differences, with a good return on immediate expenses. The members of the volunteer team bring home with them inspiration and renewed dedication, as at each clinic they see the effects of their care on these growing children, measured in real time. Their families become OUR families and these missions contribute to the community more highly functioning young adults.

We express our gratitude to the SIF healthcare professionals, Children’s Lifeline International, KLS Martin, RI and the Rotary Clubs of New Braunfels & Los Cabos, Clínica de Especialidades, Hospital H+, Del Mar Los Cabos, PR Solutions, Mango Deck, Baja Cantina, Garambullo Catering & Chefs Services, Los Cabos Ride, ARNIAN Freight and Storage, Anchor Storage, and Restaurante Puerta Vieja. So many individuals and companies have supported these missions over the years, and with their continued generosity, many more children will enter their home communities with the blessings of being able to eat, breathe, speak, and smile confidently with function, adding to the productivity of their lives.

Please enjoy this YouTube video made by SIF VP Maribel Moses showing our team in action, and some of our CaboSmiles Mission August 2026 results.

Longitudinal Photo Studies – Representative Cases

Prof. Jeffrey J. Moses DDS, FAACS
Diplomate, Amer. Board Oral/Maxillofacial Surgery President/Founder,
Smiles International Foundation