2nd clinic day

First, a run down of our providers:

--Gloria, RDH, she has been doing these trips for years, now pulling more teeth then cleanings. 

--Jim, DDS, specializes in root canals. He has no work here. So….he is pulling the teeth he would usually save.  Paradigm shift for Jim.

--Dan, MD, ENT specialist.  Pulled a few teeth in residency, anxious to learn what is going on a few inches from where he usually works.

--Mike, DDS, specializes in children’s dentistry.  He is right in his element.  He gets all the kids, and handles the “screamers” well.

--Zach, freshman dental student.  He just arrive this afternoon.  Spring break for him.  His first real introduction to dentistry.  Eyedropper meets fire hose.

--Charlie, DDS, old dog.  The backup guy for the tough ones.

Dan and Rochell getting a tooth out.

A great crew, with help from Princess, Mike’s wife, Nicole, Jim’s wife, Jang, our student and sterile tech, Rochell, future Dental Hygienist, and LowLow; blood pressure taker and greeter.  She is 9, our youngest team member.

Mike, with Princess, LowLow and mom working on a little guy

A good day.  All providers busy.  Most patient’s want fillings, many need extractions.  At any one time, three providers are extracting teeth and one is doing fillings.  The key is triage. The clinic staff have been determining the chief complaint, we will now be doing that.  There is less waiting for the patients.  We will be working on this more when we return on Sunday. 

LowLow taking BP.

Oh, yesterday’s picture….Gloria and I are the only “docs” that have gone on mission trips, and really the only “docs” that have pulled a lot of teeth.  Dan, the MD, doesn’t. Jim, the endodontist, rarely pulls a tooth, and Mike, the pedodontist, only pulls baby teeth.  So, lots of cross-training.  And, by the end of the second day, all were pulling teeth with the best of them!  Congratulations guys.