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.