When was the last time you went to the dentist and you were actually excited to go? Never I'm guessing. Weird people like me absolutely love going to the dentist, but everyone else typically dreads their yearly appointment. Some people go even far less often than that. Did you ever think about what it would be like to not understand the need for basic dental care? Did you ever think that maybe when your dentist told you to drink less soda, s/he had a point? If you haven't thought about these questions than I'm sure you haven't asked yourself what it would be like to lack dental care at all; I know I never did. I also know for a fact that I absolutely have always taken my dentist and all of my dental care for granted. Today, I was hit with the devastating reality of what exactly could happen when an entire community not only lacks proper dental care, but also the adequate education to understand why basic dental care is so important in the first place.
I had the privilege of working with the children of the community we were stationed at today. I helped teach them how to brush their teeth and was actually in charge of administering their fluoride. Now if you don't know exactly how fluoride is applied, I can explain. We had those long wooden q-tips soaking in a pink jelly-like fluoride and when the children were done brushing their teeth, I asked them to "abre la boca," and I basically painted the fluoride on all of their teeth. As I heard the head intern talking to someone about how much these children's teeth were rotted, I couldn't believe it. I didn't believe it until I put fluoride on the teeth of my first child. Wow. It was shocking to see just how bad their dental care was. It's a combination of that and the sad fact that sugary drinks such as sodas are far less expensive for parents to buy for their children. It's not the healthy alternative, but it's the more affordable one for these low income families. Their teeth were black and rotting, and some of them were even missing many teeth due to this poor care.
Through all of the sad parts today, I did have so much fun with the kids. My favorite part about today was how excited the children were to come see us and get their teeth cleaned. When was the last time you felt that way about the dentist? These kids were so carefree and had no idea that something might be wrong. All they wanted was a toothbrush and a chance to show off their tooth brushing skills!
I was not expecting to love being with these kids as much as I did. Though it was hard and sad to do what I was doing today, I know how much of a difference it made on the lives and dental care of these children. I know that despite the sun (that was much stronger than expected), everything we did today was worth it. When I put fluoride on a young girl's teeth and her mother came up to me, kissed me on the cheek and profusely thanked me, I knew that being mildly dehydrated and very sunburnt was worth it.
I'd like to thank my dentist, Dr. Gryzbicki, for her generous donation of toothbrushes. The children absolutely loved them!! Also, I'll have you know that I will never take for granted coming into your office again.
Hope everyone is great back home, and trust me when I say that I understand it is a blessing to be sunburnt because it means that it's hot and sunny here! As always, thanks for following and goodnight!!
No comments:
Post a Comment