Dental Team

We had grown accustomed to Dr. Bill's dental team visits on LaGonave. It is nice to get to know new dental students while catching up on the news of those who have visited before with Dr. Bill.

As most of you know, dental care is rarely covered in basic health insurance policies. We have been fortunate to have regular visiting dental teams at WISH during our nine years on LaGonave. We would just walk over to the WISH dental clinic after lunch to have our teeth cleaned and checked for free. Kris had a filling redone last year and a few years before even had X-rays taken. One of the questions when we moved North was what about a dentist.

During Christmas break we received an E-mail about a team visiting the North and inviting all missionaries who wanted to see a dentist to set up an appointment. So after school on Monday we picked up the kids and headed off to the site. Unfortunately for the team, some of their equipment was still stuck in customs but they were still able to clean and pull teeth. The team was from Washington State.

The week prior we saw the team arrive on the MFI flight that I wrote the blog about picking up our cargo. Following the trip to the airport we found our selves behind the truck that had picked up the team-here they are....

We were complimented on how clean our teeth were and thanked, as it was late afternoon on the last day and the team was ready for some easy cases. Most Haitians don't get regular dental care so the dentists often get sore arms from all the teeth they have to pull. Eli had been worried about some dark pits that the dentist had warned him about last year but they are stable. No cavities! Anna's mouth is too small and it was recommended that we have her seen by an orthodontist the next time we are in the States for a full set of x-rays and a 'plan'. But no cavities! She is missing her front top tooth [working on the second] and waiting for Grandpa TerAvest to give her a gold coin.

We are thankful for good teeth, volunteer dental teams and good dental care.