Dominican dental mission inspires service
College of Dental Medicine senior Heather Zak joined associate professor Linda Kaste, DDS, Ph.D., director of the Division of Dental Public Health and Oral Epidemiology in a dental mission program benefitting the rural poor living in the Dominican Republic. It's results helped to bring smiles to at least 1,451 Dominicans by providing good dental care through compassionate hearts.
Members
of the 2000 Dominican Medical Mission include (left to right): Jad Eckhoury,
University of Maryland; Joy Clem, University of Maryland; Marsel, a high
school student from San Jose de Ocoa; Franklin, Universidad Autonoma de
Santo Domingo; Dan Fiederman, University of Maryland; Dayna Cassandra,
University of Maryland; and Heather Zak.
Now in its 19th year, the Dominican Dental Mission program, attracted the talents of 16 dental students from the University of Mississippi, University of Maryland and MUSC and other private dentists as they shared their skills with residents living around 15 remote communities around San Jose de Ocoa, an area centrally located in this historical Caribbean island. Participants worked in two groups, which also included a number of Dominican dentists and volunteers over a four week period last month.
“Being involved in this type of project was such a great opportunity for me,” said Zak, “The trip helped me to realize the need for basic dentistry for everyone, no matter where they live.” Previously, Zak's only experience with community work was with the College of Dental Medicine's mobile dental clinic, a mobile van project that travels around Tri-county communities.
Each morning the team, with dental gear in tow, would travel miles by jeep or trucks to remote mountain locations in order to provide dental care to rural communities who are limited in their access to health care. Once there, the group would setup their temporary clinic in existing health clinics or school houses. They performed a variety of procedures including primary and permanent teeth extractions, tooth restorations and also provided transitional partial dentures. The equipment operated on air compressors and generators.
Special training for the group allowed the team to perform under non-traditional conditions. Team members learned how to position patients since dental chairs were scarce and mostly unavailable. The team trained on portable dental units.
The annual mission not only provided good dental treatment to people in these communities, but also taught valuable lessons about life and clinical conditions within a third world country. For example, one group had no running water for three days. Also, their lunches were prepared almost entirely over an open fire.
Meanwhile, the program's results have inspired students and professionals to continue in participating in other dental missionary tours. For the Dominican volunteers, their interaction with the groups have inspired many to become dentists themselves.
“I really enjoyed the group dynamics of the experience,” said Zak, recalling her eight-day mission. “We were able to share resources, challenges and share perspectives under a common goal. It's different from school, where we're graded on our work with individual patients. There, we worked as a team with students and dentists actively worked together.”
Even upon her return, Zak found it difficult to share her full experiences with fellow students and friends. “It's hard to describe everything and put it into words,” Zak said. ”It’s something that truly has to be experienced.”
The Dominican Dental Mission was formed in 1982 by Francis G. Serio,
DMD, professor and chairman of Periodontics at the University of Mississippi
School of Dentistry. Serio also serves as chairman of the American Dental
Association's Oversees Steering Committee for Volunteer Dentistry. The
program is still led by Serio and is under the auspices of the Catholic
Medical Missions Board.