“This past September, I embarked on a 10-day trip to Suqian, China to provide humanitarian aid in the form of dental treatment to underserved residents in the area. A total of 19 participants including dentists, hygienists and nurses participated in the trip. We were able to provide services such as prophylaxis, scaling and root planing, extractions, restorative work and endodontics to the hundreds of patients that came to the dental clinic. Many of these patients were in their 60’s or 70’s and had never had a dental cleaning before. We also spent a large amount of our efforts teaching the locals and community dentists and other influential people about the importance of oral health. Dr. Yin Hsu IS’93 and I gave presentations to local schoolteachers as well as government officials. This was especially important because we felt that in the short time that we were there, we could only treat so many patients. However, by increasing the general understanding about prevention and regular recare, we felt that our impact would be the greatest. After a week of hard work, we flew to Guilin, China to tour the picturesque mountains and took a boat tour down the Li River. We ended our trip in the mountainside rice terraces of Longji, where we got to experience the beauty of the Chinese countryside.”
