Dental Report (Antigua, Guatemala 2019)
This year’s dental mission was especially rewarding for me on several levels.
The generous amount of supplies provided by special friends and colleagues was truly remarkable. Notable among them are Drs. John and Giuliana Demarco, Pennie Thornton, David Rawson, Clive and Manny Friedman, Timucin Ari and Tim Foley. Corporate “thank yous” go out to Ms. Jenn Durack of 3M London, Ontario, Russ Baker and Karen Grigg of Sinclair Dental and Rene Belanger-Forget of Oral Science of Canada.
Special thanks to Anna Hales for facilitating just about everything, but especially for shipping my supplies to Antigua, which in the past I had to bring along in a massive hockey bag.
This year I had the privilege of working with Ms. Alissa Do, from Prescott Arizona, who was my incredible dental assistant for this mission. She did not miss a beat having been away from chairside activities for some time and made my tasks far less difficult. Mrs. Elizabeth Peralta who served as our fabulous translator was an absolute natural at her role. She excelled at translating a most challenging “dentalspeak” to the little ones, who for the most part had no idea as to what was about to happen. Her compassionate, kind demeanor with these little souls was truly heartwarming. Also, I do have to give a shout out to Selma, who is the full-time dental assistant in the clinic (btw she speaks no English) and was instrumental in making our care for the children far less complicated.
Elizabeth, Selma, Alissa and I sharing a photo-op
This year we saw 33 children and one of the little girls we saw on two different days. We completed 145 procedures (including 32 extractions and 48 fillings). Needless to say, a lot of the dental experiences the children went through were the first ones they had ever encountered and somehow through all of the trauma they may have had to deal with, they never failed to express “gracias” after the appointment was over.
An appreciative little tyke after her appointment
On a non-dental note, this year I had the unique opportunity to go to the Nursery in the hospital and along with being able to play with these tiny souls I was also privileged to be able to help feed one of them. This little boy with Down Syndrome who was 15 months old, weighed a little over 5 pounds and somehow, he was hanging on.
The second special opportunity was afforded by the local volunteer dentist who treats patients in the hospital’s dental clinic. We visited an affiliated hospital where she gave us a tour of the facility. Currently there are approximately 264 cerebral palsy patients who live and are cared for there.
Both these events struck home the very simple fact of how lucky we are here in Canada with respect to our healthcare. The events of the week, working with likeminded kind, compassionate people and the knowledge that I might be making a difference has convinced me to make the trip again in 2020.
~ Dr. Olaf Plotzke