Visiting dentists hold free clinic for children
Primary School children from the village of Hattieville and surrounding areas have reason to wear broad smiles these days. A team of visiting dentists from the U.S.A. today wrapped up a series of free dental clinics in the village.
The primary school children from Hattieville Village were surprisingly calm and cool as they had their teeth cleaned and filled by a team of visiting dentists from the New York based organization: the International Health Professions Network Incorporated. The group, which is primarily made up of a team of black female volunteer doctors, does not only recruit dentists, but all kinds of health care professionals. According to the team’s leader, Dr. Susan Stukes, the group was formed after they saw that their services were greatly needed in the countries they visited.
Dr. Susan Stukes, International Health Professions Network
“Especially for dentists, we would hear that there were so few dentists in some of the countries that we traveled. People would hear that you were a physician or a nurse and they would approach you and say why don’t you come her, we need your help, so we just saw the need and started to see what we could do ourselves.”
In the case of Belize, Stukes says the group was invited to Belize by Belize’s Ambassador, Edward Laing. Subsequent contacts with the Chief Dental Surgeon Dr. Christopher Bennett brought them to the country on March twentieth after which they immediately proceeded to set up clinic at the Hattieville’s Community Center.
Dr. Susan Stukes
“Dr. Bennett selected Hattieville. He said this was an area that did not get served when volunteers came in and that’s how we ended up here.
We are focusing on prevention and restoration. The first day we did an emergency, we did extraction and that kind of thing. But our main focus is the children, so we are working with the schools and we are doing sealants and fluorides and fillings.”
The team of visiting dentists are scheduled to leave the country on Thursday.
