Written by John Brett, Practice Manager
Two wonderful dentists at Ambience Dental, Dr John Pearman and Dr Jana Nikolovski, recently joined a group of volunteers to help some of the most disadvantaged people of the Philippines.
In a celebration of international collaboration, the Rotary clubs of the Illawarra and Philippines put together an expert team of volunteer doctors, dentists, and nurses who spent two weeks helping the beautiful people of the Island of Negros in the Philippines.
After two weeks of travelling to various communities on the island many hundreds were helped and many had immediate treatment to address serious health issues.
“Some 600 patients were assessed and many people received immediate treatment.” said Dr Pearman “We donated dental equipment and materials to the local dentists and people were given free toothbrushes and toothpaste with information about good oral hygiene.”
However, Dr Pearman described the problems these communities face was far worse than expected.
“The combination of poor oral hygiene and a diet high in sugar resulted in a lot of problems for the community. Many people, including young children, needed extractions for very decayed and infected teeth” explained Dr Pearman.
“I’m a dentist who has practiced for nearly 40 years in the Illawarra, and treating a young boy with both lower first permanent molars decayed to gum level and draining abscesses was unexpected. We had hoped to start a preventive program, however the large number of people with very decayed and infected teeth meant we had to change our plans.”
The people of the island were very supportive and appreciative of the help they received.
“All patients were very grateful for any help we could provide. It was a wonderful experience and I am thankful to everybody who contributed to make it a success.”
If you are interested in getting involved or want to help, you can get in touch with us to let us know.
