Narooma Rotarian and dentist Dr Charmaine White has recently returned from two weeks volunteer work with a dental team in Timor Leste.
‘It is a well-run joint Rotary Australia World Community Service/ Lions/ Carmelite nuns project,’ she said.
‘Our main aim was to relieve pain; in some areas people have never seen a dentist. Some teeth would have been sore for months if not years.
‘Traditionally toothache has been eased by chewing Betel nut but that can cause cancer of the mouth and oesophagus. So eliminating toothache will reduce the risk of oral cancers.’
She met up with the team in Dili (comprising two translators, one nurse and three dentists), picked up equipment and dental supplies and then drove through Baliabo and on to Maliana near the West Timorese border, a long bumpy drive of over six hours.
‘Betel nut chewing is still a big problem in the Maliana district,’ Dr White said. ‘In the first week, we worked in three places – the local Maliana hospital, a local school and a village Cailaku that had never seen a dentist and saw community and school students.
‘In the second week, we spent three days in Bogoro School with 900 students and two days at Maubara clinic which is a room In the Carmelites convent. At the clinic the local dental nurse Nico had screened all the children so we just had to do extractions and fillings. ‘Overall we saw 1,261 children and extracted 527 teeth; only three refused treatment and ran away or cried. We filled 406 teeth and did a few scales and prevention on teeth fissure seals.’
Dr White hopes to return to Timor Leste at a later date.
Above: Narooma Rotarian and dentist Dr Charmaine White at Bogoro School, Timor Leste while taking part as a volunteer in a recent joint Rotary Australia World Community Service/ Lions/ Carmelite nuns dental project.
Above: Dr Charmaine White with a young patient waiting for his mouth to go numb, during a recent joint Rotary Australia World Community Service/ Lions/ Carmelite nuns dental project.
