Piezosurgery® Testimonials
University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine Mission to Belize
"A little girl cries herself to sleep every night. She winces in pain at meal times because she has a developing abscess in one of her baby teeth, and nobody can help her. Imagine this 4 year old is your child, niece, neighbor, or granddaughter. You call for an appointment, but the nearest help is 100 miles away by dirt roads, and the earliest appointment is available in about one month. What would you do?
The University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine in Farmington Connecticut had just the right answer. In April of 2009 a team of sixteen third year dental students, five hygienists , and two high school students were lead by general dentists, Dr. Ronald Albert DMD of Manchester Connecticut and Dr. Randy Greenberg DMD of Wallingford Connecticut to Belize, Central America.
One might think that Belize is a tropical paradise with azure ocean water, cruise ships and luxury hotels but there is another Belize that no one sees; a very rural, third world country. A country with 16 dentists of which 15 are located in one of the largest cities, Belize City. The other dentist is a public health dentist responsible for the rest of the small country. Belize has huge monetary obstacles to overcome. Similar to our current economic downturn, Belize has lost one of its primary income sources, tourism. The schools are in a state of emergency and one of its main fund raising activities is selling lollypops and soda in the schools. As a result the children as young as 4 have rampant decay requiring full mouth extractions. Oral hygiene is non existent.
As part of the mission trip, all dental students and hygienists were involved with teaching both the students, teachers and administrators about dental decay, fluoride, and diet. Cleanings were provided to all along with fluoride and toothbrushes. Approximately 500 people were seen. A surgical operating suite was set up with instruments brought from the US as well as two Piezosurgery® devices. The 16 dental students along with the two faculty members extracted approximately 400 teeth on adults as well as children. This was done without x-ray equipment, water, light, suction or handpieces. Patients were placed in plastic lawn chairs with their heads resting back on stone walls. Thankfully we had the Piezo devices to allow us to section teeth and remove bone. Our patients would wait sometimes for hours to be seen. The group visited 8 communities and stayed until all were seen. One night we were done at 10:00PM.
This experience was a win for all involved. The people of Belize benefited from all the free dental care, not only in the immediate but hopefully long term due to the education. . The dental students also benefited from the experience of being able to extract teeth in a very primitive setting. "
- Dr. Greenberg
