| Dentalgram |
May 2002
|
School of Dentistry mission
trip to Loreto, BCS (Mexico)
By Julie Gray, DH'03
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| Preparing for a long day serving patients in the Loreto clinic, dental team enjoys breakfast outside. |
The service learning department at LLUSD sponsored four
dental students and four dental hygiene students during the spring break
to travel to Baja, Mexico, where they volunteered in a dental clinic in
Loreto, a small fishing town approximately 700 miles south of the border.
The group included Dr. Mario Flores, graduate of the University of Mexico
who supervised dental students Hai Trang, D3 and Hea Kwon, D3; Chad Ordelheide,
D2; and Gary Pundt, D2. Letti Lenoir, DH’89, supervised dental hygiene
students Dyanna Denney, Sandra Garcia, Julie Gray and Betty Jimenez.
During the week of March 17 to 22 Dr. Larry Day, former LLUSD faculty
member, supervised the clinic. His wife, Bonnie, and René Hannah
prepared meals for the volunteers. Dr. Day’s friend, Ron Payne, a
retired physical therapist and alumnus of LLU, worked with Fred Kasischke,
to initiate the participation of the School’s service learning program.
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| Chad Ordelheide, D3 (right) and Dyanna Denney, junior dental hygiene student (facing camera), prepare to take a radiograph of a young patient's mouth. Hai Trang, D3, is pictured behind Chad. |
The dental clinic, along with a Seventh-day Adventist Church,
a small pastor’s house and an outside kitchen are on the grounds.
A physician in Los Angeles donated money for the property.
A youth group, headed by Pastor Walter Mancea and other volunteers of
the Grants Pass Seventh-day Adventist Church in Southern Oregon, built
the clinic in 1994. The clinic is used to treat those who meet the income
requirements of the social welfare program in Loreto, and is open only
when there are volunteers to service the patients. News of the dental
clinic spread through DIF (Loreto’s welfare program), the local church,
and by word of mouth. Some patients had to travel quite a distance to
get to the clinic.
The volunteer team rendered about 700 service hours to 135 patients, some
of whom returned four or five times. By Friday afternoon, the students
had extracted 116 teeth, completed 142 fillings, and provided oral hygiene
care (scaling and root planning) for 45 patients.
The experience in Mexico was invaluable to the students as they were able
to obtain guided experience while helping so many people who would not
otherwise be able to receive dental care. There was a report of one person
who began attending the Loreto Adventist Church after receiving care in
the clinic. The School’s Service Learning department is already busy
organizing another trip for the summer break.
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| More than 130 patients were served by the Loma Linda volunteers in the Loreto clinic- and hundreds of pieces of dental equipment were used. Here Chad Ordelheide (D3) takes his turn cleaning instruments in the sterilization area in the Loreto clinic. | Gary Pundt, D2 (left), and Hai Trang, D3, provide restorative care in the dental clinic. |
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| Dental hygiene junior Sandra Garcia (left), is supervised by Letti Lenoir, dental hygiene instructor. | Julie Gray, dental hygiene junior, dental hygiene student, provides care to a patient. |
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