LLU Dentists Serve Around the World Thomas Rogers The Students in Mission Service (SIMS) trip to Ecuador, July 5-22, included a dental team that I lead, with participation by dental students Melissa Nelsen, John Nelsen, and Aaron Rondon, all SD'99. The SIMS dental, medical, and public health team spent a week in the city of Guayaquil, where we worked in a shantytown neighborhood known as Trinitaria. We stayed in the homes of local church members who hosted the trip. The kindness and hospitality shown was heartwarming. On July 12, the team traveled by bus about five hours to the north, to the town of La Concordia where we spent the next week. During this time the dental team treated several hundred patients, mostly with extractions, and screened about 200 school children at an Adventist school in Guayaquil and a day care center in Concordia. The medical team treated hundreds of adults and children and the public health team made numerous presentations to local civic groups, public health officials, and schools. The patients we treated, the church members who hosted us, and the sights and experiences we had will not be forgotten. Thomas Rogers, SD'83, MPH, is assistant professor of dental educational services. Melissa Nelsen, SD'99, treated patients in operatories bounded by cardboard dividers and dirt floors. Tom Rogers treats a patient. Tom Rogers and team worked in the Ecuadoran clinic with a rock-strewn floor and unfinished block walls. Michael Lee   The Lee family treating a Micronesian patient: Amy, Mike, Shirley, and Jennifer.   On June 25, my family (wife Shirley Lee, DH'82, and children) and I traveled to Guam for a two-week vacation. No strangers to this tropical paradise, we spent eight years there as missionaries, working at the Guam SDA Clinic from 1983 until 1991. As we had not visited Guam since leaving in 1991, it was good to see old friends and learn of the progress of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and Clinic. Another highlight was a five-day dental mission trip to Falalop, a three-quarter-mile-square island of Ulithi Atoll, which is part of Yap State, one of the Federated States of Micronesia.   Shirley Lee, DH'82, uses the cavitron to remove betelnut stains.   Traveling with us was Wayne Ward, SD'90, currently serving as a missionary at the Guam SDA Clinic. The people of Ulithi have no regular access to dental care. The last dental care provided to these people was in 1990, when we, along with Todd Milledge, (SD'88, PG'95, now assistant professor and chair of pediatric dentistry) visited the island. We brought with us all of our own dental equipment and supplies, and performed extractions, composite and amalgam restorations, and lots of extensive cleanings. The people there are heavy betelnut chewers, so the cavitron was running all day long. Our trip to Guam and Ulithi brought back many fond memories, and our sense of missions has been renewed. If you feel called to participate in mission service, either short or long term, don't pass up the opportunity to serve your fellow man in this exciting way. For information on how to participate in short or long term mission service, contact James Crawford, SD'60, MPH, coordinator of dental affairs, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, phone (909) 558-4607; fax (909) 558-4211; Loma Linda University School of Dentistry, Loma Linda, CA 92350; email <jCrawford@sd.llu.edu> Medical and dental students from Loma Linda University provided care to the Amazon people of Brazil, from June 16 - 29. With the boat Luzeiro as base, they visited three villages, setting up clinics on land, and finding spots to hang their canopied hammocks. The dental team included Robert Wells, Jeremy Abbott, David Kyle, Elisa Martin, and Carlos Moretta, all SD'01; plus Miguel Mego, DDS; Diane Schmidt, a dental hygienist from Fresno; and Fabio Maia, translator and student in the School of Public Health. Rob Wells, SD'01, injects a patient in his "low-tech" clinic setting. His left knee is a headrest, and a slatted bench is his chair. On Luzeiro's roof: Fabio Maia, David Kyle, Diane Schmidt, and Carlos Moretta. On the bow: Dr. Miguel Mego, Jeremy Abbott, Rob Wells, and Elisa Martin. Paul, a UCLA pre-medical student, shows the fearsome choppers of a pirhana fish. Patients waiting for denatal treatment are taught proper dental hygiene by members of the dental team. Photos by Elisa Martin, SD'01, a second-year dental student.   Christy K. Robinson   Wayne Ward, SD'90, missionary dentist in Guam.   The National Dental Auxiliary, affiliated with the School of Dentistry Alumni Association, assists dental missionaries around the world. Based primarily upon an annual benefit concert held during the Alumni-Student Convention, and dues paid by its members, the Auxiliary grants funds to Seventh-day Adventist dental clinics in such places as the Mariana Islands, Guam, Zimbabwe, and Puerto Rico. Some of the grants paid for equipping operatories, sprucing up patient reception areas, or purchasing new autoclaves, sterilizers, and dental clinic supplies. In addition to financial donations, some dentists and hygienists provide not only their professional skills, but talent and effort in painting, repairs, sewing, and cleaning. Bob Darby, SD'61 and wife Joann, a hygienist, were such helpers on St. Kitts. They are retired in Paradise Valley, Arizona, but spend much of their "retirement" in volunteer projects around the world. For information about the National Dental Auxiliary, contact (909) 512-1344; PO Box 726, Loma Linda, CA 92354; or email <dental.aux@juno.com> The following are full-time dental missionaries for whom your prayers and donations are solicited: Charles Arnett, SD'64 Trinidad Elwood Astleford, SD'98 Malawi Warren Creed, SD'86, MS94 Okinawa Ronald Forde, SD'83 Zimbabwe Per Houmann, SD'83 Malawi Erwin Hutchins, SD'78 Puerto Rico Andrew Kim, SD'94 Guam Richard Ludders, SD'66 Saipan Monte Montgomery, SD'92 Korea Eric Oakely, SD'95 Guam George Quittmeyer, SD'66 Malawi Stanley Ramley, SD'66 Guam Donald Sandquist, SD'69 St. Kitts Robert Stacey Palau Tobias Turon, SD'97 Russia Nantje Twijnstra, SD'74, MPH Thailand Scott VonBergen, SD'95 Guam Wayne Ward, SD'90 Guam David Wilkinson, SD'93, MS'96 Zimbabwe Liana Wolf, SD'90 Guam George Wonenberg, SD'69 Zimbabwe Students volunteer for Health Fair Expo screening (Below) Chandra Maloney, SD’01, gives an oral hygiene demonstration to Health Fair Expo attendees. The event, attended by thousands of people, was held in the Drayson Center. Chandra also gave out toothbrushes, and she and her schoolmates provided about 400 dental screenings, as well as recruited new patients for the clinic. (Above) Volunteers for the Health Fair Expo dental screening on Sunday, October 25 were: (standing) Courtney Jackson, SD’91, assistant professor in restorative dentistry, Kyung-Hoon Chung, SD’01, Elena Sanz, SD’00, Kerisa Elloway, SD’00, Sam Williams, SD’00, Zizi Zoubek, SD’99; and (seated) Zack Hyun B. Kim, SD’01, Chandra Maloney, SD’01, and Chris Nguyen, SD’00. University | Medical_Center | LLU&MC_home | Search | Employment | News_&_events | Academics | Our_mission | Admissions | Registration | Research | Alumni | Student_resources All contents copyright © 2001 Loma Linda University. All rights reserved. Revised March 1, 2001 Send comments and questions to webmaster@univ.llu.edu  URL: http://www.llu.edu