Our main goal with dental care is to create an education and prevention based program while attempting to intercept potentially life threatening oral infections and oral pathology.
The dental needs of the Haitian population are staggering. Dental decay resulting in non restorable teeth is rampant. Dental decay that results in broken, but restorable teeth is even greater in magnitude. The availability to professional dental care is non existent for a large portion of the Haitian population. Statistics show only 1 dentist per 100,000 people. Most of the dentists have their office in the large cities and very few go to rural areas. Triage and selection of patients is a monumental task in itself.Typically we treat the following conditions: Extensive dental decay requiring extraction of multiple teeth per patient. Extensive periodontal disease. Restoration of decayed teeth. Placement of dental sealants. Removal of benign lesions and neoplasms. Oral hygiene and nutrition counseling. Future goals for dental care include establishment of a dental record system and patient charts, continued training of Haitian personnel as dental assistants and the formation of a school/education program to train oral health technicians/ dental hygienists.