We made it! Normally our trips are composed of five days, eight is a “personal best”! But it comes with costs. We are sore and tired. I usually have a sore back from the bending and twisting dad after day. Add a sore right arm to this trip. There were so many teeth to pull. Maybe I need to train before the next trip!
This was our transportation, the “jaguar bus” Tight fit for 12+ of us and all of our equipment and supplies. Quite a spectacle as we drove from village to village.
We were in a new Mayan village, Columbia. Again, we didn’t get to work in the health clinic, but next door in the community center. The Health Clinic was closed, so our access to trash cans, chairs, water, etc. was through the villagers. They were very accommodating. One man went home to get a couple of plastic chairs for us to use. It is hard to do dentistry with the patient sitting on a long, low, narrow bench. We did scrounge around the area for some concrete blocks to elevate a bench for Mike to see kids. His chair was a 5 gallon bucket turned upside down. We found an old tee shirt/rag in the bus to soften it a bit. BTW, having a children’s dentist on the team was incredible. He took all the kids, dealt with them brilliantly, allowing us to focus on the adults. Thanks Mike and his wife Princess.
This is our typical “waiting room” Some people end up waiting all day to be seen.
Zach and his dad had to head back to Loma Linda this morning, we really missed him. Dan had over 30 ENT patients to see, including a surgical removal of a mucocele from a little boys lip. Nice bit of surgery for him to do, and us to watch. Our procedures were fairly routine. We, again, extracted many teeth, and I was able to see several people who requested fillings. One particular patient that was gratifying for me was a 13 year old girl. Lots of decay, we decided to place fillings in her lower 4 molars. Her six year molars were severely decayed, her 12 year old molars moderately decayed. With a little bit of luck and a lot less soda, she may be able to keep these teeth through adulthood. That is the exception in these communities. It is rare to see an older adult with more than 10 moderately healthy teeth.
Dan in surgery. Brave little guy.
This was our longest day. We didn’t get back to Punta Gordo till after 7pm. We decided to gut it out and finish the list of patients that wanted to be seen, then to come back the next day. The extra two hours was made possible since this block building had electricity. Those 4 bare bulbs hanging from the ceiling gave us enough light to keep at it till everyone was taken care of.
Why our backs hurt. No headrests for the patients, that is what your knee and a bench is for. Combine that posture with pulling an upper tooth equals “can I get out of bed the next morning?”
These smiles make it all worth while.
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