TODAY news - Feb 20, 2003 - School of Dentistry news

Thursday, February 20, 2003 TODAY

School of Dentistry news

Mission dentist from Djibouti studies for six months at LLUSD

Cornelio Aba, DDS (right), pauses in front of the United Nations plane that evacuated him from Somalia after a team organized by ADRA–Somalia was unable to leave the country because of the civil war. Pictured with Dr. Aba are Ali Bushir, medical director, Somalia Government Hospital; and Guillaume Mulinga, ophthalmology department, Djibouti Adventist Health Center.

Djibouti, a country slightly smaller in size than Massachusetts, lies in Eastern Africa bordering the Red Sea. It shares borders with Somalia, Ethiopia, and Eritrea. Nearly half the population (42 percent) are under the age of 14 with a life expectancy for males of less than 50 years.

In this desert region with no land suitable for agriculture, insufficient drinking water, and temperatures that soar as high as 122° F, lies the Djibouti Adventist Health Center. The two-chair dental clinic is overseen by Cornelio Aba, DDS, who graduated from Manila Central University School of Dentistry in 1971.

This year, Dr. Aba was chosen as one of two mission doctors to study for six months at the School of Dentistry. His stay is being sponsored by the National Association of Seventh-day Adventist Dentists (NASDAD). Dr. Aba is studying with students in the International Dentist Program, and is encouraged to observe many of the School’s specialty programs.

Dr. Aba, who returns to Africa in March, observes that “At Loma Linda, religion and science blend beautifully.”

Dr. Aba began his career at Mountain View College in the Philippines. “At that time [1972 to 1994],” he remembers, “the dental clinic had only one chair and was struggling.”

The Djibouti Adventist Health Center serves a population of more than 90 percent Muslims.

While he was there the clinic expanded, and newly graduated dentists were invited to work in the clinic for six months to a year. “Two of the dentists who completed the program,” informs Dr. Aba, “now serve in mission clinics in Africa.”

In 1994, Dr. Aba answered a call to mission service in Malawi. “It was challenging, as my youngest child was nine years old,” he confides, “and we sent him to attend Maxwell Academy in Nairobi.”

Dr. Aba was warmly welcomed by the Malawians. “The country is known as the ‘warm heart of Africa,’” he says.

In addition to providing care to the surrounding community, the Malawi clinic serves the diplomatic community. Patients include the country’s vice president, and members of the Peace Corps from the United States, Britain, Japan, as well as the U.S. ambassador.

Each morning, the clinic staff attended worship and Dr. Aba decided to move the meeting into the waiting room, much to the surprise of the office staff. According to Dr. Aba, the waiting patients enjoyed the short meeting, and soon began to join in as hymns were sung.

“ On weekends,” says Dr. Aba, “the clinic staff visit villages, giving health lectures and leading mission outreach programs.” The van, donated by NASDAD, is used for regular outreach and free clinics treating hundreds of patients.

In 1995, Dr. Aba received an urgent request—the Djibouti Adventist Health Center was without a dentist and if one was not found, the government would take control of the clinic. Dr. Aba moved to the area for six months until a doctor could be found.

Several years later, the Djibouti doctor who now had small children, asked for a different assignment. So after completing a six-year mission term in Malawi, Dr. Aba and his wife moved to Djibouti to begin full-time service in 2000.

Immediately he began to build strong relationships in the community. The Adventist clinic is not far from where recently three Americans (including a doctor) working in a Christian clinic that had operated for more than 20 years were killed, and a fourth was wounded by an Islamic extremist.

“ The reason our clinic exists,” says Dr. Aba, “is to serve the community. We have made many friends.”

In addition to the dental clinic the facility has an eye clinic. An OB-GYN clinic will soon open.

Challenges include damage to instruments due to high salt content in the water supply and high energy costs to cool the treatment areas as outside temperatures soar.

In mid-2002, Dr. Aba was part of a medical team organized by Adventist Development and Relief Agency, Somalia.

The group, including an eye surgeon and a translator, began treating patients close to the airport in Somalia, moving to two more sites during their 10-day trip.

“ When we were at the last town, war broke out making it impossible for us to return to the airport,” says Dr. Aba. “Eventually, we were evacuated by a United Nations plane.”

As he describes mission life, Dr. Aba speaks with peace and contentment that come from helping to alleviate pain in a region where the need is so very great.

Editor’s note: Information about Djibouti obtained from The World Fact Book 2002.

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Hygiene students visit children’s center

Senior dental hygiene student Mimi Lee shows a kindergartner how to brush off plaque.

Loma Linda Children’s Center kindergarten class was recently visited by a group of senior dental hygiene students who presented information about healthful snacking, plaque control, and proper brushing technique.

The dental hygiene students performed three puppet skits to present the material. There were also age-appropriate activities for hands-on learning, including how to identify healthy snacks from a mixture of healthful and non-healthful snacks, how to disclose the children’s teeth so they were able to see plaque, and how to brush off the plaque using the techniques shown to them.

“ The children were brushing and talking about healthy snacks and yucky plaque for weeks afterward,” explains Lara Logan, teacher of the kindergarten class. She went on to say that the kids enjoyed the puppet plays and want the dental hygiene students to come back. A second class at the Children’s Center has requested that the dental hygiene students return to present the same lessons to their group.

“ A lasting impression was left with the kids,” says Julie Gray, senior dental hygiene student. “The dental hygiene students learned a little bit more about giving dental hygiene instruction to young children, and using education and newly acquired skills to reach out to the community around us. It was also a lot of fun!”

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The 7th Biennial Buell Symposium, January 12 to 13, is a big success

Nearly 300 dentists—endodontists and general dentists—from throughout the United States and Canada attended the 7th Biennial Buell Symposium January 12 and 13, 2003, in the Coleman Pavilion.

The topic of the symposium was “The Hows of Non-surgical and Surgical Endodontics,” and consisted of demonstrations by endodontists who are well-known in the field: L. Stephen Buchanan, DDS; Robert J. Rosenberg, DDS; Joe H. Camp, DDS; Eric J. Herbranson, DDS, MSD; John West, DDS, MSD; Clifford J. Ruddle, DDS; Barnet B. Shuylman, DDS; and Richard A. Rubinstein, DDS. James L. Gutmann, DDS, served as moderator.

A highlight of the symposium was a PowerPoint presentation given by Dr. Herbranson, in which he showed a unique dental anatomy program which could be rotated and manipulated. The presentation incorporated material that Charles Goodacre, DDS, MSD, dean, School of Dentistry, helped develop.

The symposium was set up to demonstrate several distinct approaches to endodontic treatments. Companies who helped sponsor the event included Dentsply Professional; Light Speed Endodontics; C.K. Dental Specialties; Satelec, Inc.; Brasseler USA; Obtura Corporation; JedMed Instruments; Vista Dental Products; Sybron Endo; Roydent, Inc.; and Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

According to Mahmoud Torabinejad, DMD, MSD, PhD, and director of this program, $60,000 raised by the event has been added to the Buell Endodontic Endowment Fund.

The Buell Endodontic Endowment Fund

The Buell Endodontic Endowment Fund was established in 1989 in memory of Ronald Buell, DDS, a long-time faculty member who provided leadership in endodontics from 1956 until the mid-1980s.

Dr. Buell was the first director of the School of Dentistry’s advanced education program in endodontics.

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Thursday, February 20, 2003 TODAY