Winter 2012-13 - College of Dental Medicine - Columbia University

To solve this serious deficit in Burundian health care, Deo
returned to Columbia, where he sought help from University
President Lee Bollinger, who sent him to Dean Ira Lamster
at the College of Dental Medicine. The College was already
experienced in working with impoverished third-world
dental health needs through the United Nations Millennium
Villages Project. Dean Lamster agreed to send a team to
treat as many Kigitu patients as possible during a one-week
stay, while also helping to lay the foundation for future dental
care in Burundi.
The team extracted 201 teeth from 141 surgical patients,
mostly adults. Since there is limited access to candy, sugary
drinks and snack food in Burundi, the dentists saw fewer
children in need of dental work. But one eight-year-old had
been suffering for months with a growing abscess following
a traumatic injury to a lower incisor. Dr. Chussid was able to
give him almost immediate relief by removing the tooth.
Although the VHW will face difficulty in developing and
sustaining an ongoing dental presence, the staff was eager
to assist and learn about how they could carry on once the
Columbia doctors had completed their tour. The CDM team
examined 282 patients and collected a great deal of data
using a modified World Health Organization dental assessment
form that will be a basic tool for moving forward in
both prevention and treatment.
Outside the Kigitu community school, an attentive audience listens to
Dr. Chussid's daily lecture on the basics of dental health and preventive
measures against oral disease.
In preparing for the community's improved oral health, the
four doctors also took on several other tasks: teaching the
Kigitu villagers about preventive measures against dental
disease; teaching and training community health workers
in basic dental care and procedures, such as giving dental
injections and performing extractions; and lecturing on correct
procedures for advanced treatments. In addition, they
provided thousands of dollars in donated dental equipment
and supplies.
Each member of CDM's team has expressed the hope that
circumstances will allow their group to return to Kigitu to
offer further guidance in bringing the best oral health care
possible to the region.
Dr. Ringler operating on a Burundian dental patient with the
aid of a community worker being trained in dental procedures at
the Village Health Works in Kigitu.
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