Lindeners access much needed Dental Services

Sep 21, 2016 News

Residents of Linden yesterday turned out in their numbers for a Dental outreach held at the Egbert Benjamin Recreation Hall and Conference Centre.
The dental services were offered by the Humanitarian Assistance Programme (HAP) arm of the American embassy in collaboration with the Region Ten health committee, the Linden Mayor and Town council and the Linden Hospital Complex.
HAP is an initiative under the U.S. Embassy to assist Guyana’s communities, particularly in underserved regions, in the areas of social, economic and medical development. HAP works to bring together multiple local and international agencies to reach common goals.
During the outreach a Sickle Cell awareness session and blood drive were also simultaneously held.
However the most sought after service was the dental clinic which saw persons arriving at the venue very early to queue up.
Dr. Gregory Harris, Chairman of the Region Ten Health Committee, noted that the dental outreach was much needed since Linden currently only has one dentist, who is tasked with offering his services at both the Wismar and Mackenzie hospitals.
Harris added that the team of dentists performed front and back fillings, extractions and cleaning. In addition tooth brushes, tooth paste and dental floss were handed out to those in attendance.
Residents who took advantage of the services expressed satisfaction and gratitude.
Most persons said that they took the opportunity to clean their teeth, while some opted to do extractions and a few had fillings done.
Heading the team of dentists was Doctor of Dental Surgery, Bukaris Anugerah, who is attached to the Davis Memorial Dental Clinic in Georgetown.
Apart from Dr. Anugera, the team consisted of a faculty dentist and five dental students from the South California University, a dentist from the University of Guyana and three students from the Cheddie Jagan Dental School.
Anugera said that the team is currently conducting a week-long outreach which started on Sunday at a church in Grove on the East Bank Demerara and continued on Monday at an orphanage.
“We started on Sunday, but this is the largest turn out thus far,” the doctor said.
The team is scheduled to conduct similar outreaches at the Davis Memorial Hospital and the St Joseph High school.
Director of HAP Stephen Stosberg said, “I am surprised that the turnout is this big. I am really pleased because all along Iwas hoping that it would be large so that we could meet as many people as we could”.
Speaking about the genesis of the event, Stosberg noted that the team from Southern California had expressed interest in doing voluntary dental work in Guyana, which was good as Dr. Gregory Harris had expressed the need for dental services in Linden.
Yesterday’s event was subsequently planned as a result.
Stosberg said that he was very happy with the coordination of the outreach by the Region Ten body which ensured its success. (Enid Joaquin)

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