Dental Services To Be Offered Soon

Ken     7 December 2013

Thanks to several donors in the United States, dental care will likely be the first service offered at Rehoboth’s new outpatient clinic. RSM plans to begin offering prophylaxis (cleaning), tooth extractions and restorations (fillings) to the community as soon as we can partner with a dentist.

Donors provided nearly $7000, which fully covered the purchase of a beautiful, high-quality dental chair, air compressor, dental x-ray, high- and low-speed drills, scaler, light curing unit, dry heat and UV sterilizer, and a set of stainless steel hand tools. With the left-over funds RSM is able to purchase consumables: gloves, anesthetic and antibiotics, for some time to come.

In February, RSM kick-started the clinic by holding a Medical/Dental mission for the people of Sampaloc and the upland barangays (mountain communities). Three volunteer dentists, two of them private and the third on loan from the nearby Philippine Army camp, plus their staffs and one Australian nurse, provided their services for the day. Approximately 130 children and adults were seen, with nearly all of those receiving extractions of one or more rotten teeth. It was a tiring day for the team, in terms of numbers of patients, physical exertion for extractions, and less-than-comfortable plastic chairs. All of the older Rehoboth Children’s Home kids received attention.

Following the dental mission, two of those volunteer dentists and another dentist who heard about Rehoboth word-of-mouth all initiated conversations about providing more volunteer services. One of those has periodically donated further time to care for the teeth of Rehoboth kids, helping us to save money from the Home's dental budget. In addition, he has seen the staff and their children, providing a welcome fringe benefit to them.  

Thank God that He is concerned for those who cannot afford healthcare! Healthy mouths make positive impacts on families physically, economically and spiritually. May our patients experience God’s grace and give their applause to Him!