I visited the dental clinic today in Nimina. 3 dentists pulling teeth, one patient after another. “Come here, Amy, look at this,” Brenda invited me, as she bent over an 18 year old young woman. One molar was already in the paper cup the woman was holding, and Brenda was trying to pull another one – I could see the decay around the dentist’s gloved hand and extraction tool. It was really in good, Brenda had to use I think 5 tools to get that molar out.
Patients are given a shot of novacaine before extractions, thank goodness, but even still, I grew a little weak in the knees watching a little girl get a tooth pulled from one of the Guatemalan dentists, and another woman get her four front teeth pulled – the decay had rotted them away. “It’s better for the tooth to be out,” they tell me, “otherwise the decay spreads.” And with no access to toothbrushes, much less toothpaste, keeping your teeth clean is very difficult. I left that schoolroom where the clinic was held of two minds – either I would never want to go to the dentist again, or, I decided, I would go every month to make sure each of my teeth was super duper clean.
I learned how to do urine, pregnancy, blood sugar and hemoglobin tests today, as that is what I will be doing tomorrow when we go to another village. And continue to help the ear nose throat doctor. We had a few surgery referral cases today, including one boy who did not have an ear canal. With one day of training with an odoscope, I am a whiz. But I couldn’t figure out why I couldn’t see this boy’s eardrum. Duh – turns out he didn’t have an ear canal. So they scheduled him for surgery next month, where he will be accompanied by his mother and baby sister.
The children are so interested in us, asking us all sorts of questions about where we live and how we got here (airplane or helicopter? one boy asked me this afternoon). It’s so fun to play with them and hold the little ones – I really see Christ in their loving faces. And again every patient I interacted with today was so grateful – a hug and a kiss, or a wringing handshake after we were done, including a blessing for the work we do. It’s very humbling.
