2010 Dental Mission

The 2010 Mission of Miracles was the 6th year of providing dental care to the people of El Salvador. There have been numerous changes since our program began. The goal of the mission trip has continued to be providing best practice dental care for the people of the villages. We believe this was our most productive year yet.
We have completed our 3rd year of supporting follow up dental care in El Salvador. We are funding the salary of a local El Salvadorian dentist to visit the villages on a regular basis. This program has expanded and the villages now receive visits from the dentist once per month for 10 months. This year a new dentist was hired by the diocese of El Salvador. Dr Claudia Escobar assumed these duties for the last half of 2009 and will continue to serve in 2010. Dr. Escobar is a highly competent, well trained dentist. Her compassion and energy are an inspiration to us all. We feel honored to work with her in our attempt to improve the health of the people of the villages.
Our dental team was comprised of Dr. Ed DeFuria (a Periodontist from Syracuse, NY), Dr. Claudia Escobar (the El Salvadorian dentist), Cathy Streeter and Tara Arpino (registered dental hygienists), Hanna DeFuria, Janiece Lorey, Donna Bye, and Sara Hauschild (assistants/support), and myself, Dr. Gard Lorey (a general dentist from Skaneateles, NY).
This year we visited five villages (Las Salinas, Las Bromas, El Maizel, La Libertad, and El Congo). The first three villages our mission had visited two or three times previously. This was our first year visiting La Libertad. We have been to El Congo all six years. The dental health in La Libertad was clearly the worst and in El Congo was clearly the best. I believe this supports the goal of our mission by providing dental health education and dental treatment and improving quality of life.
Our work includes removing abscessed and severely decayed teeth, restoring decayed teeth, and providing sealants and fluoride treatments. We also stress oral health education and preventive dentistry. We schedule education sessions (including nutrition counseling and oral hygiene instruction) with the school children of the villages (with the aid of an interpreter) and distribute many tooth brushes, floss, and tubes of toothpaste.
We have left Dr. Escobar with many supplies for the follow up visits to the villages. While the dental needs of the people of El Salvador are huge, we feel progress is being made and the villages are progressing towards improved dental health.

Reflections from Tara Arpino on the 2010 Mission

After church Sunday, just before we all said our final goodbyes, I sat next to Pedro and "Burro" under the gazebo and traded e-mail addresses with them. Then Pedro told me that he had been under the impression that we had all been brought down through funding from the Diocese, and didn't realize that we had paid our own way to come and help the people of El Salvador. He said he and the other "surfer dudes" had been very moved by our dedication and caring of people we had never met before. He also saw how we cried when we saw the children with bad teeth, and for the other medical and psychological stories we heard, and that he felt like crying too but he didn't because he was a "Big Boy." He says none of his friends could understand why he had decided to become a translator for the mission and he was going to relay these messages to his friends. I told him that it was going to be up to him and his generation to work to make his country a better place for his children.

Dental Mission of El Salvador - Overview

Dr. Oscar Hernandez is a local dentist who works with the health program of the Episcopal Diocese of El Salvador. He visits 8 villages doing cleanings, fillings, extractions, and applies fluoride varnish to prevent future cavities. The program runs monthly from February to November
Dr. Oscar Hernandez writes: "I feel proud to be representing a wonderful team from CNY. What I do for the diocese makes me feel a better man, a better dentist and a good son of God. The goal of the dental program is to increase the amount of treatments and make an impact in peoples dental habits. Prevention in all levels of attention is very important and I´m willing to do my best effort to get it."

When Dr. Gard Lorey, a dentist from Skaneateles first visited El Salvador, he had learned enough Spanish to ask people about tooth pain and cavities. He knew that he and his colleagues on the Mission of Miracles medical team from Central New York would travel to small, isolated villages, and that they would be seeing patients with decay, infections, and other problems.

What Dr. Lorey didn't know, however, was that three years later he would be leading the charge to ensure that El Salvadorans in need receive preventative and corrective dental work on a regular basis.

"There's not a whole lot of wealth in these remote areas of El Salvador, and peoples last priority is their dental health," said Lorey, who has practiced for more than 20 years.
Lorey believes it is vital for the citizens there to get more regular dental care
Lorey is now seeking to raise money to pay for year-round dental equipment, supplies, and staff. Currently, the Mission of Miracles, which us sponsored by the Episcopal Diocese of Central New York, includes around 30 physicians, nurses, dentists, and eye doctors.

The man he is depending on to provide this care is Dr. Oscar Hernandez, a Salvadoran dentist in his early thirties.
"Oscar is a well trained, very competent dentist," Lorey said of Hernandez, whom he met during his first visit to El Salvador. "He could practice in the United States without a problem.

When Lorey first traveled to El Salvador in 2005, he was exposed to the extent of which dental issues are problematic in small villages. Because sugar cane grows in the wild, Salvadorans chew on it from the time they are very young, said Lorey.

"The effects of this behavior are very damaging to their teeth," Lorey said of the sugar cane, adding that because many of the villagers are poor, they often wait until a problem has reached the point of an emergency to seek dental assistance.

While some members of the mission are taking blood work and checking for eye problems, the dental team (usually two dentists and a hygienist) are performing checkups and teaching preventative care. Lat year, the group brought 160,000 fluoride tablets for teachers to distribute to their students, up from 30,000 from the previous two years.

When Dr. Hernandez travels to the villages, the dental needs of the villagers are varied and extensive.

"Sometimes he does exams and teeth cleanings. Sometime he does fluoride treatments. Sometimes he extracts bad teeth," Lorey said of Hernadez, noting that some people are self-conscious, and want their damaged or diseased teeth restored. "The needs there are insurmountable."

Lorey said that the Mission of Miracles attracts large numbers of Salvadorans and that the wait can be hours long. But the residents are gracious and thankful, and they make the day into a kind festival, with singing and dancing; the women and young girls even wear their finest dresses.

"These people have very little, but they're extremely content," Lorey said.

On one mission, a young El Salvadoran boy was in need of dental care, but there wasn't enough time to see him. The next day, that same boy appeared at the missions' next stop, in a village 2 miles away.

"He showed up. I don't know how he got there but we treated him that day," Dr. Lorey said.

The Mission of Miracles times its visits to El Salvador during the dry season, as some of the villages are impossible to access during the rainy season.

Dr. Hernandez updates Dr. Lorey in Skaneateles with e-mails about once a week. Hernandez writes about his concerns about the hurricane season, and also problematic earthquakes.

But for Dr. Lorey, who would eventually like to raise enough funds for two traveling dentists, this is truly a gratifying experience no matter the scenario.

"Right form our very first mission in our first year, I knew I'd be back," he said, noting that he particularly likes to see that the preventative education is having a positive effect in El Salvador.

Dr. Oscar Hernandez, too, is dedicated to the mission.

"I can't explain the sensation and feeling I enjoy after work," Dr. Hernandez wrote in an email to Dr. Lorey.

"Your words (make) me feel so good," he wrote in a separate email. "I know that I'm doing the right thing."