dental clinic

Last week I spent a day out with the dental team. Every week day the team goes out to their clinic, a local facility that Mercy Ships rents out, to provide free dental care. They give cleanings, perform lots of teeth extractions, and make referrals for dentures paid for by Mercy Ships. They have already seen over 7,000 patients and see approximately 50 patients a day.

While the patients are waiting, they receive teaching on proper dental care and other health education.

The large room full of dental chairs and instruments.

Table full of sterile instruments

I got to help Donna, one of the hygientists while she cleaned teeth... suctioning! :)

...and help Simon, one of the dentists as he was pulling teeth. 

This man got 15 teeth pulled at one time!! They like to do only a few at one visit and do the rest another visit, but since its the end of the outreach there isn't room for second visits. Everything is done under local anesthesia.

This is Roseanne, their one and only sterilizer. She's amazing!

The instrument sterilizer

Lunch break... :)

At the end of the day, a patient came before her scheduled appointment because she had lower jaw pain and swelling. She had a raging infection and was at risk if immediate action wasn't taken. I got to watch as the dentists performed "surgery" in the chair, putting in a tiny drain (penrose) to drain out the pus. 

I had such a fun time observing another aspect of the ministry here and interacting with the staff. So many here have dead or broken teeth that need to be pulled, but they can't afford to see one of the few local dentists. I was amazed at how trusting the patients were and the pain that they tolerated. Even so, each one walked away with looks of relief and appreciation.