Canadian And American Dentists Visit Guatemala
A team of dentists from Canada and America visited Guatemala to treat people in need.
Dr Alex Fay was joined by his father, James and three other dentists on the week-long trip to Peronia. Dr Fay only graduated from Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia two weeks ago but he got straight into action joining his father and other volunteers on a charity trip linked with the Open Wide Foundation. The group made the trip to the region of Peronia as part of a mission organised by the Spear Institute in Arizona.
Dr Alex Fay said that he graduated and was then straight off to Guatemala for a very challenging but rewarding adventure; he said that the work was very hard, especially as he was not used to full-time work but added that it would give him invaluable experience.
The group saw more than one hundred patients during the week with patients aged between 6 and 75 years old.
This was the first time Dr Fay had visited a developing country and it was certainly an eye-opening experience for the newly qualified dentist. He said that he had been expecting patients to have much worse standards of oral health due to the lack of dentists; however, he was pleasantly surprised that rates of decay were fairly low due to the fact that most people’s diets are low in sugar.
Charity work and travel are definitely part of future plans for Dr Fay and he is already planning his next trip, which he hopes to tackle with the help of his wife, an occupational therapist.
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