Dr. Johnson's Travel Log Day 3

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Vegetarian breakfast early – oatmeal, raisins, barley “coffee” (tastes good but non-caffeine), locally made bread with peanut butter and jelly , bananas and oranges. 

As we walked up to the clinic, patients were already lined up waiting for us to begin seeing and treating them.  We began at 8 AM (Central time) and worked through until 6PM with about a half hour break for lunch. 

The dental needs are overwhelming!  There is almost a complete lack of  oral hygiene.  Rampant dental decay exists in both adults and kids.  Nearly all adults are missing teeth.  Virtually all have decay somewhere in their mouth.  If the decay is small enough and can be restored we placed silver fillings in the posterior teeth and white fillings in the front teeth.  Because it is difficult to keep the mouths dry enough, in our very basic clinic, white fillings were not possible to be placed in the posterior teeth. 

If the decay is large enough to destroy a tooth, then the tooth must be extracted.  I am the designated oral surgeon on this trip because Dr. McArthur prefers not to perform it.  I was well trained in my hospital residency to be able to extract teeth, but is something that I have not done much of since that time.  Very quickly, Sarah, Katy and I were immersed in all that we could handle.  I was tentative at first but soon got back into the rhythm of being able to rapidly diagnose what was needed and to get after it. 

Because none of the patients know how to speak any English, we needed translators to communicate effectively with them both before treatment and with post -operative care instructions.  During the procedures we were able to communicate the basics in Spanish but needed somebody more skilled to be effective in the necessary communication. It is frustrating to us that we have worked hard to learn Spanish via Rosetta Stone at home, but due to lack of use since some of the lessons, much has been forgotten and our communication is often poor. 

Following a successful day that went by rapidly, we were exhausted.  We ate our meals  that were prepared for us at the church and walked back to our hotel, uphill, along a windy dirt road, showered and dropped into bed.