THE ART OF DENTISTRY - School of Dental Medicine - Case ...

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BY SUSAN GRIFFITH
SECOND-YEAR CASE WESTERN
RESERVE UNIVERSITY DENTAL
STUDENT RELIEVED CHILDREN’S PAIN
DURING VOLUNTEER TRIP WITH THE HIMALAYAN DENTAL RELIEF PROJECT IN GUATEMALA
Seeing children in pain from a toothache makes Blake Rosacker, a second-year Case
Western Reserve University dental student, jump into action. Recently he made a number
of children feel better during a 10-day volunteer mission with the Himalayan Dental Relief
Project to San Martin Jilotepeque in the Mayan highlands of Guatemala.
Rosacker, from Greenwood Village, CO,
was part of a 14-member group of four
dentists, one hygienist and nine lay
volunteers. They set up a dental clinic
and camp in a local school where children
were provided care and oral health education
about how to keep their teeth healthy.
“The most rewarding aspect about the
trip was being able to work with the kids,”
said Rosacker. “I found them to be so
genuine, and it was great to provide a
helpful service to them.”
The trip provided some challenges in
that Rosacker speaks only a little Spanish,
but others in the group helped with the
interpretation. Also periodic power outages
slowed operations, but the group was
able to see 336 children and provide
106 cleanings and 263 restorations and
extractions in the five days they were in
the village.
Setting up a dental clinic in a school is
not new for Rosacker, a student at the
Case Western Reserve University School
of Dental Medicine. He has visited the
Cleveland’s schools as part of the dental
school’s community outreach and oral health
education initiative to reach thousands
of school children through the Healthy
Smiles Sealant Program. The Healthy
Smiles program has traveling dental
clinics that are set up in school cafeterias
and libraries. Case Western Reserve dental
students provide dental examinations, seal
permanent molars and refer children to an
area dentist or clinic when more extensive
dental services are needed.
Rosacker, who was interested in volunteering
on a mission, contacted the American
Dental Association, who sent him a booklet
on volunteer opportunities. Through
information received, he learned about
the Himalayan Dental Relief Project, a
nonprofit group established in 2000, to
provide free dental care and oral health
education to impoverished children and
families of Nepal, India and selected locations
in Vietnam and Guatemala. The group’s
mission is to return every two years and
continue care for the children seen
through the project.
The Himalayan Project teamed up with
the local nonprofit organization Behrhorst
Partners for Development that provides
basic health and education services to
60 indigenous villages.
Rosacker’s interest in doing a mission
outside the United States was inspired by
his participation in the Semester at Sea
program while an undergraduate at the
University of Colorado at Boulder.
“We traveled throughout the Pacific, and
my eyes were opened to the disparities in
our world,” he said. “Since then I have
wanted to go back and give more of my
time and abilities to help others.”
Rosacker has seen the “immense” difference
that the volunteer mission can make.
“Children would come in screaming in
pain from an abscessed tooth, and we
were able to take away their pain and
keep them safe from infection,” he said.
“Unfortunately, in Guatemala the children
have picked up the high-sugar diet of the
American culture but do not receive any
of the education about oral health,”
Rosacker said.
What Rosacker particularly liked about
the relief project was their attention to
educating the community. “Every day
we were there, hours of time were spent
educating everyone on how to brush and
the importance of oral health,” he said.