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Thursday, May 20, 2010

5 days straight...

Our dental clinic at EntreAmigos provided a new setting and welcomed a new addition to this year's field school. On Saturday, May 14th,  Dr. Grillo and his staff joined forces with us to promote oral health and  provide dental services to the people of San Pancho.

The following pictures document 5 days, 51 hours, 30 minutes, 2 seconds of clinic days at EntreAmigos. ;-)

THURSDAY, May 13th was set-up day.  EntreAmigos had sinks, bathrooms, a refrigerator, and ample space for us to create 5 dental hygiene units, one overflow, one dental unit, a reception area and one waiting area. Here's what it looked like on the evening of the set-up.

Before the ultrasonic machines were set up.


All the water bottles are being filled for the portable ultrasonic units.



We were done for the night! Now, we are off to dinner  before the big day.  Thank you ladies for your great organizational skills.



FRIDAY, May 14th 2010
How we managed to not trip on each other is beyond me.  There were hoses and electrical cords where the flow of traffic would normally be but we were accident-free for the 5 days that we were there. The vacuum cleaner suction was right in the middle of the units to accommodate 4 chairs, as well as Dr. Grillo's unit.


Here's our vacuum unit. We misplaced the vacuum hose from our last clinic at the hospital and had to quickly fashion one from a tubing and lots of clear tape bought at a nearby hardware store. We have become quite resourceful.



Everyone rotated through different partners, which worked really well. They were also coaching each other and checking each other's work. They were beginning to get comfortable in evaluating each other's skill level, including their tactile sensitivity.



Danielle and Jeanie treated this couple. They were so grateful and full of smiles after several hours in the chair.


SATURDAY, May 15th. Dr. Grillo is joining us today. Below is Danielle massaging Emma's neck in preparation for the long day ahead. ;-)


Dr. Grillo brought a lounging chair from his rented house to be his dental chair for the next 4 days. Here's the dental corner of the building. The portable unit you see in the foreground worked well for his purposes, except for the suction. Jackie, his receptionist/interpreter (in the background) was essential to the team as she was able to convey to Dr. Grillo queries and concerns that his patients have about their oral health needs. In turn, they were also able to converse back.



We were just about to begin our day. Kellie and Sarah are seating in the reception area.



Our waiting room. Not bad, eh?



The quiet before the storm.



Here's another view of the wait area from the inside. This is where we also ate our lunches.



A condensed health history and a consent form was completed at the beginning of each appointment.



Blood pressure measurements were also taken.



Bethany assisting with a light while Tanis and Robin looked on as Dr. Grillo completes a restoration.



Jane, the hygienist was a tremendous help with our students and to myself. She not only assisted, but also offered coaching and scale checks. She also had patients of her own which was much appreciated, as we had a waiting list everyday of people who wanted to come in and that we couldn't accommodate.



Kellie preparing for an injection on Dr. Grillo's patient as he offers guidance. The students were very happy to work with Dr. G. They mentioned that his teaching style was very calming and informative and helped much with their confidence level.  Many of them have not done an injection for some time so they were a bit nervous. They also completed injections on their own patients.



Here's Bethany completing one on her patient, as Robin helps with the light. By the end of the clinic session, every student had completed 1-3 injections.



This was the dreaded job at the end of the day...but everyone HAD to do it. Today, it was Jeanie and Danielle who were in charged. Emptying a full day of "patient juice" from the suction container into the sink took only a few minutes but there was a certain look and odor to it that was less than desirable.

Here's another view from the other side of the bathroom. That $%^@-eating grin from Becky behind them can only mean that she's already had her turn. That little bugger!


I took a picture of the ladies at the end of Day two. Here we are in front of EntreAmigos. Earlier, we broke into a "Feliz Compleanos" song for Kellie. It was her birthday this day and we thought that we'd celebrate with a dinner to a special restaurant later that evening. This picture was taken at around 7pm.


Even after a long 11 hour day, we were at the restaurant till closing time at 11pm. The chef came out with a guitar and song, along with our waiter and hostess to sing to Kellie at the end of our dinner. It was a nice way to cap off another successful day.


SUNDAY,  May 16th:  Dr. Grillo joined us for our daily pre-clinic huddle. After the huddle, we do our morning stretches and partner-massages before our team cheer.  



Here's Robin, ready to greet our first patient of the day. Rolling up the scrub pants helped to keep our bodies cool. It was probably over 20 degrees by 9am.


Jeanie completing one of her local anesthesia injections.


Ouch Danielle.  Later we added an "aerobic step stool" at the foot of the beach chairs to further recline it for a more improved accessibility to the posterior areas. Sarah was Danielle's partner this day.


A view of our clinic. To the right of this picture are two more dental hygiene units. They each had the portable suction that were recently purchased from donations generated by the students


This is one of our success stories. You saw a picture of him and his family earlier when we treated them at the hospital.  Today, he was here for a dental consult with Dr. Grillo. Dr. G was also impressed with his oral findings; no decay, minimal mobility and healthy periodontal tissues. The second picture is of his right hand. I took a picture of it as he was very proud of the progress that he has made with his dexterity skills. 




Robin completing an injection on Dr. Grillo's restorative client.


Thank you Robin and Sarah. As they were exiting the building at the end of the day, they found a couple who were selling churros (mexican donuts) at the back of their truck. They returned back to the clinic with churros for everyone. Another  perfect way to end our day.


SUNDAY, May 17th:  Jane assisting with a light as Candyce applied local anesthetic on her client. Her ambidextrosity(is that a word?) came in handy as she usually works on her right side. With the small quarters that we had to work under, her ability to move from one side to the other comfortably was an asset.


This is Jill, our interpreter for the morning and Javier. He has early childhood caries. He told Jill that he doesn't like to drink water as it doesn't taste very good. He usually has Coke with all his meals. It's no wonder. He patiently waited for hours as his mother was being treated by Tanis.


Dogs and children were a common sight at our clinic. The little girl's name is Oma, Luz' daughter who was one of our interpreters.


Becky says, "I'm going in!" A purposeful stance prior to her injection. 


Here I am with Tanis. Rolling more into the concave areas of teeth and activating from the base of the deposit during scaling was what everyone needed to work on but improvement was evident after each day of practice.


We finished at 5pm this day. At 7:30, we met everyone at Dr. G's rented house where a lady prepared dinner of fajitas and vanilla flan for everyone. Lisa, Dr. Grillo's wife took this picture. Don, the gentleman on the far left of the picture owns this house and lives here 8 months of the year. He is also a resident of White Rock, BC. A small world.



Relaxing by the salt-water pool at the end of the day.



It was going to be a 15-20 minute walk back in the dark to our home in the pueblo...so at the end of the evening, Don offered to take us all back in the back of his truck. Of course, we took him up on his offer. 5 minutes later, we were home for a good night's sleep. Tomorrow was going to be our last day at EntreAmigos.



Kellie, Danielle, Robin, and Candyce chose to walk along the beach. It was another warm night and the moon guided them home.


TUESDAY,  May 18th. This is day 5 for us and we were feeling fatigue but extremely satisfied of the work that we were doing. There was much work to be done as people were showing up wanting appointments but we have been booked full for days. It was unfortunate and very sad to have to turn people away but they were very understanding. Note the aerobic step stool propping the beach chair back. This incline provided better access for Bethany on the maxillary posterior areas.


Below is Becky treating Paulina, one of our interpreters/school presenters. I deemed today as "casual Tuesday" for one primary reason. My excuse was I didn't have enough time to take my scrubs to the laundrymat so had to resort to my regular clothes. Most students wore their scrubs (they were more organized than I was), but Robin, Jeanie, Becky and I came with wearing t-shirts.  Robin and I proudly wore our lucha libre t-shirts.


Lunch Break!!! Today was a choice of marinated tofu or ham tortas with chips, oatmeal cookies, and iced tea. Kellie sharing her meal with one of the dogs that frequents our clinics.



What could possibly be Greg talking about to generate such curious looks from Danielle and Jackie? On the other hand, he may have had too much to eat and D and J are giving him a  hard time.



It's almost closing time.  There was a bit of surrealism as we started to disassemble and pack away our equipment. We feel like we were just getting in the groove and becoming such a part of the daily activities of the building. Here's Jeanie putting away the ultrasonic kits.


At the end of the day, Glades presented everyone with gifts from EntreAmigos, EscueladelMundo, and local artists in town. We also shared a delicious chocolate cake. It became emotional for many of us. 


Delicious chocolate goodness!!!


Fernanda, one of the children who was in the biblioteca at the time, wrote a thank you card to Becky and presented it to her before we left.


Below are more kids who made cards for the rest of the team. 


Final packing of supplies. We left all of the self-care aids behind for future endeavours, such as the monthly oral health presentations at EntreAmigos. 


Farewell to Sherri, (Greg's amazing assistant), Jackie, Jane, and Greg. This is a picture of all of them as they packed all of their supplies back into suitcases and about to board their rented van.


Tomorrow, Greg, Jackie and I meet at the hospital to try to catch the hospital director for an unscheduled meeting. We also wanted to view the dental clinic one more time and have an opportunity to talk to the two female dentists there.




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