American Dentists Making A Difference In Haiti
A dental team from Aspen Dental helped to spread smiles earlier this month when they visited Haiti.
The team, which consisted of three dentists and two dental hygienists, visited the town of Jacmel, located three hour’s drive from the capital, Port au Prince. The team provided much-needed dental care in conjunction with Restore Haiti.
The volunteers worked from a cinder block building, which had limited access to water and a faltering power supply, but they managed to provide almost 500 people with basic dental treatment over the course of the 5-day visit.
The team of volunteers was lead by dentist, Dr Chedly Schatzie Vincent, owner of the Aspen Dental offices in Norwalk and Fairfield. Dr Vincent said that Haiti was a beautiful island, but the people have nothing and most have never seen a dentist. In Haiti there is just one dentist to every 100,000 people and it is incredibly difficult for people to access dental and health care.
The team arrived with more than a dozen boxes of supplies, including antibiotics and painkillers, needles and suture kits, equipment for tooth extractions and fillings and a portable X-ray machine. Although the working conditions were difficult, the team managed to see a lot of patients and people were genuinely happy to see them; many had been suffering from tooth pain and were grateful for treatment.
Dr Jennifer Check, from Monroeville, said that dental problems were prevalent and in many cases, people had severe decay and abscesses.
The team was supported by Henry Schein.
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