These last two weekends I have had a blast doing dentistry/dental hygiene in different parts of Sierra Leone. Last weekend was in a small village called Rokon and this weekend was in a part of a city called Makeni. Makeni is the fifth largest city in Sierra Leone.
Last weekend in Rokon I started out doing hygiene. After about 2 cleanings, there was no else waiting for hygiene, all wanted extractions! I watched Dr. Gabe do some extractions for a few hours but then realized I could be a help to him. I could anesthetize the patients prior to them coming to see him so he doesn't have the wait time for people to get numb before he starts the extraction. It was a better use of both of our times.
Here is Augusta getting all set up for the clinic.
I'm checking out which tooth hurts and what injection he needs. In Krio, you say "uswan hert" for "which one hurts"?
Injection which we call "chuck" in Krio... pronounced 'chook' also means thorn.
So after I would give them an injection and they had time for the anesthetic to work, they would go see Dr. Gabe in this chair. I would speak Krio to them but the area we were was mainly of the Timne tribe which Augusta speaks. She was a great help to have there.
Christine came on this trip and worked with the kids in the area.
This picture is my favorite.... Isn't he the cutest little kid?
This is what I will be doing soon...
Here is Christine after a hard day's work. After the first day... she lost her voice big time!
I did 5 cleanings in 2 days as well as injections. Here is one of the cleanings...
Here are the assistants Augusta and Alice after the frist day of hard work!
All the girls pointing to the baby in my 'belle'
Day 2... the line of people waiting outside
Augusta giving oral hygiene instructions
I failed to mention that I dragged John on the trip with me this time. I don't have any pictures of him with my camera, but I'll get some from Dr. Gabe's camera. It was pretty nice as he was my personal assistant. I think he got a good look into what I actually do! I think he didn't really have a clue before that lol! At least not when I tried to describe difficult cases.
There are only 2 weeks left of Dr. Gabe being here before he goes back to the states to meet his wife who is at the end of her pregnancy. Then I will probably just do cleanings at the clinic while he is gone.
Last weekend in Rokon I started out doing hygiene. After about 2 cleanings, there was no else waiting for hygiene, all wanted extractions! I watched Dr. Gabe do some extractions for a few hours but then realized I could be a help to him. I could anesthetize the patients prior to them coming to see him so he doesn't have the wait time for people to get numb before he starts the extraction. It was a better use of both of our times.
Here is Augusta getting all set up for the clinic.
I'm checking out which tooth hurts and what injection he needs. In Krio, you say "uswan hert" for "which one hurts"?
I failed to mention that I dragged John on the trip with me this time. I don't have any pictures of him with my camera, but I'll get some from Dr. Gabe's camera. It was pretty nice as he was my personal assistant. I think he got a good look into what I actually do! I think he didn't really have a clue before that lol! At least not when I tried to describe difficult cases.
There are only 2 weeks left of Dr. Gabe being here before he goes back to the states to meet his wife who is at the end of her pregnancy. Then I will probably just do cleanings at the clinic while he is gone.
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