SRW Accomplishments

THE "NO CAVITY CLUB" IN SIQUATEPEQUE, HONDURAS

By Anne Schacherl

From October 31 to November 8,2014, the dental team fromMain Street Dentists in Verona, WI, saw 145patients at the clinic in Siquatepeque. Thisincluded all of the children who attend thelocal school, members of the teaching staff atthe school, the clinic's head physician, fosterparents, orphans, guards, extended families associatedwith the Honduras clinic, and childrenfrom two orphan group homes. In addition,the local school reached out to seven olderchildren who attend a nearby school who hadnever seen a dentist. Our team saw and treatedthese children as well.

This year's team members included Drs. Johnand Kate Schacherl, dental hygienists DeniseJacobsen and Tanya Kudinenko, and dentalassistants Brenda Maxwell and Jean Foley. Onthis mission, the team was assisted each dayby Spanish language interpreters who are fifthgrade students at the local school.

Over the past five years since the clinic wasestablished, teams have traveled to providecare nearly every six months. At the beginningof this endeavor, it was Dr. Schacherl's goalto work with the school community to teachthe value of good dental health and especiallypreventive dental care. Most of the childrenwho were initially seen five years ago had neverbrushed their teeth, had never learned aboutthe value of good dental health, and had neverseen a dentist. Many children had rampant decay,mostly in baby teeth, and more than a fewwere experiencing chronic dental pain -- someso severe that their parents told stories of howthe pain kept them from sleeping through thenight.

This meant anesthesia and hours of workfor the teams, together with pain and fear forthe young patients. The results, five years later,have been nothing less than miraculous. Wewere most encouraged by the improved oralhealth and good brushing and flossing habitsof the local school children. All are brushingafter lunch each day at school with the helpof their teachers, as well as at home with theirfamilies. On this mission, many children thatwe saw were accompanied by both mom anddad, which was an added bonus. We instructednumerous parents in proper dental care techniquesand sent all family members home withnew brushes and floss.

The biggest news was that nearly all of thosechildren who braved four quadrant restorationsin the past, many a recently as six months earlier,were cavity-free!

And then there's the clinic itself. Over thepast several years, numerous improvementshave been made to the dental clinic. The mostrecent was the new air conditioning, which was"asombroso" relief from the 90 degree heatand humidity. The two-room clinic now boastsfour treatment chairs, and dedicated areas forradiography, medical records, sterilization.Plentiful storage cabinets have also been added,providing multiple supply stations. All of theseadditions are significant improvements fromthe two-chair, (noisy) indoor air compressorfacility we used just five years ago.

It is a privilege to share our services with thepeople of Honduras. Each patient we see isso appreciative of the care they receive. Witheach trip, we see improvement, and that ismost gratifying. Our long-term goals are totrain local Honduran dentists to use the clinicfor the benefit of area patients, and to recruitother dentists, hygienists and assistants to jointhe missions. If you are interested in learningmore about this humanitarian work, either as aparticipant or to make a donation, contact Dr.Schacherl at john.schacherl@gmail.com.

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