Dental students bring smiles and service to Dominican Republic
Students return from international service-learning trip with a sense of pride.
The morning sun streamed through the open doors of a church building where the OHSU School of Dentistry had set up a temporary dental clinic. A light Dominican Republic breeze drifted through, offering little relief from the sweat beading on the students’ foreheads. It was the first morning of a three-and-a-half-day volunteer clinic, and the church buzzed with quiet energy.
In seconds, Kara Putman, a third-year dental student, found herself across from a 9-year-old boy seated in a faded lawn chair, his face slightly swollen from an aching baby tooth. In broken Spanish, she introduced herself and asked him what was bothering him. He pointed to two teeth. When Putman gave him an injection to begin an extraction procedure, a single tear rolled down his cheek, but he stayed calm.
“I was nervous, but I carefully worked through each step of extraction I had learned in class and clinics. Within the next minute, we had cleaned out the infection, placed fresh gauze over the sockets and he was at the check-out desk rummaging through the prize bin,” said Putman.
Left to right, Dylan Sorber, D.M.D., Permanente Dental Associates, and Erik Richmond, D.M.D., OHSU assistant professor, take a break during the clinic with Kara Putman, a third-year dental.
The boy turned to her with a mouth full of gauze and gave a big high five before rushing out to play soccer with his friends. And just like that, Putman had extracted her first baby teeth.
Service-learning
Putman and 13 of her peers from the School of Dentistry, as well as three faculty and three Portland dentists, traveled to the Dominican Republic in late September to provide dental care and oral health education to sugarcane plantation workers and their families as part of a service-learning trip.
The group traveled outside the city of Juan Dolio to a large agricultural area with limited access to health care.
“This trip embodies the reason why I decided to pursue a career in dentistry—because I can help improve access to dental care and oral health education. I am part of a team that is focused on spreading kindness and making a positive impact,” said Putman.
Over the course of the volunteer service-learning effort, the students provided care for 235 patients and completed 339 treatments, including 192 extractions, 94 fillings and 50 cleanings.
Collaborative effort
The trip was made possible with the help of several key partners and facilitators. Bright Island Outreach, a dental service organization local to the Dominican Republic, coordinated the trip, from transportation to patient triage and follow-up.
Willamette Dental Group and Permanente Dental Associates donated financial support for travel, lodging and food for the dental students. Three dentists also accompanied the students. Dylan Sorber, D.M.D. and ThienY Hoang, D.M.D., represented Permanente Dental Associates. Willamette Dental Group’s participating dentist was Mahmoud Maghsoudlou, D.M.D.
Henry Schein, a medical and dental product distributor, donated dental supplies, allowing the students to provide quality care.
Figs, a medical clothing company, donated scrubs for the students, faculty, staff and volunteers at the clinic.
Faculty and local universities
There were also student volunteers from local dental schools in the Dominican Republic—Universidad Central del Este and Universidad Iberoamericana—who managed the dispensary and sterilization area, as well as provided translation.
Erik Richmond, D.M.D., assistant professor of the OHSU oral and maxillofacial surgery department, observed students perform their first extractions, sutures and other surgical procedures.
Lyndie Foster Page, Ph.D., B.D.S., DIPClinDent, MComDent and Michele Pindyck, D.M.D., worked countless hours to organize the trip and ensured the students’ safety while in the Dominican Republic.
Kindness and impact
The service-learning trip centered on three words: kindness, family and impact. The words were chosen by students and faculty and repeated during daily team huddles.
“We would not have been able to achieve the outcomes we did without treating each other and our patients with kindness,” said Putman.
Student takeaways
Third-year dental student, Ali Alwindawi, focuses on an oral procedure.
Students had many positive experiences during the dental service-learning trip.
“This trip has been a huge inspiration for me to continue to devote myself to giving and collaboration. Being able to improve the oral health of underserved communities, while also creating long-lasting friendships with people around the world, is not something I will ever take for granted,” said Bianca Hill, a third-year dental student.
“Serving in this local community showed me the difference in quality, knowledge and ability to perform dentistry … I learned how I can change my approach to make a difference that is both impactful and meaningful for patients,” said Henson Tran, a third-year dental student.
“Not only did I improve my clinical skills, but I also gained a better understanding of what it means to improve access to dental care. I returned with an increased sense of pride in being an OHSU dental student after seeing our work impact on others’ lives firsthand,” said Lauren Richards, third-year dental student.
This is the second year the OHSU School of Dentistry has traveled to the Dominican Republic to provide dental care to the local community.
Written by Kara Putman, third-year OHSU dental student
Edited by Rhonda Morin, APR
