Program Update: Dental Hygiene Program
Dental hygiene continues to be an important component of our work at St. Joseph Clinic in Haiti.
Most villagers in rural Haiti have never had any preventive dental care other than from our visiting dental teams. The the simplest tooth infection can become very serious, even deadly. Providing this care is truly helping them have healthier lives.
For years, Dr. Michael Morch, DDS, has led dental teams to work at the Clinic. In more recent years, a second dentist, Dr. Joseph Cavallo, DDS, has also led dental teams, and this summer he led another team that spent a week volunteering at the Clinic.
In addition to providing dental care for local villagers, they provided further training for the Clinic’s dental assistants, installed new dental equipment at the Clinic, and launched a new year of the Dental Hygiene Program at a local school.
New dental and x-ray equipment was obtained by Dr. Cavallo thanks to generous generous donations from friends of his. In addition to installing the new equipment, he trained Clinic staff in the use of the equipment. The new equipment will expand the level of dental treatment that can be provided by the Clinic
Earlier in the year, a local dentist, Dr. Wooliams Joseph, joined the Clinic staff on a part-time basis. This not only provides basic dental care for the community more consistently throughout the year, but also gives our dental assistants opportunities for gaining new knowledge and experience.
We thank all of our dental volunteers and staff for sharing their time and skills to help the people of Thomassique lead healthier lives and shine bright with their radiant new smiles.
