Springfield Students Give Dental Patients Something to Smile About in Nicaragua
Dental students from Ozarks Technical Community College have recently returned from a charity trip to Nicaragua.
Students from OTC visited Masachapa for the third consecutive year to provide much-needed dental care to local people. The group took time out of their spring break at the beginning of March to help with the project, which aims to reach out to those in need.
Students worked tirelessly to raise funds for the trip before they left and they paid for all the medical and dental supplies they took out to Nicaragua with them.
Director of the dental hygiene programme at the college, Rebecca Caceres, said that it was an amazing achievement for young people to go to such lengths to raise money to fund the charity trip. The group was dedicated to fundraising before the trip and during their time in Nicaragua, they worked extremely hard to help as many people as possible.
During the visit, which lasted 10 days at the start of March, the group helped doctors and dentists to provide a range of treatments, including fluoride varnish, fillings, tooth extraction and cleaning treatments.
The students teamed up with two American and seven Nicaraguan doctors to stage a 2-day clinic, which provided treatment for around 550 people. Students were also on hand to give out toothbrushes and toothpaste and offer assistance and advice.
Kelsey Marvin was making her second trip out to Nicaragua and said that this year’s experience was even more special and meaningful than last year’s, as the students were a year further on in their studies and were therefore afforded greater responsibility. Student Amanda Motsinger said that the pace at the clinic was frantic and everyone worked very quickly to get through the crowds of patients.
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