Dental Clinics with Mayan Families in Guatemala

Today was the start of a week long series of dental clinics for children.
Today and tomorrow we are holding the clinics in Panajachel.  281 children were attended today!
The children received fluoride treatment, sealant for their teeth, extractions and some fillings.

The most exciting thing was seeing the huge improvement in the dental health of the children from the Mayan Families Pre-school in Panajachel.

The children who received this treatment from this dental group last year showed a huge improvement in their dental health.....we think it also has had something to do with them brushing their teeth at least five days a week.

The children all received toothbrushes and toothpaste to take home.
The most frustrating thing was having a 10yr old girl who had a huge abcessed tooth and it needed to be extracted.  We called the grandmother for permission and the grandmother agreed ( the parents are deceased  and the girl is being brought up by the grandparents ) ...the grandmother gave her permission for the child to have the tooth extracted but only if the child wanted it.  Please tell me if you know of any 10yr old children who would jump at the chance to have their tooth extracted???!!!!   So we could not extract her tooth.....I even bribed her with shoes which she was excited about but didn't quite make it to the dental chair.

But all in all , it was a great day.
Wednesday we will be in San Jorge .
Thursday we will be in El Barranco.
Friday in San Antonio Palopo.

The children from the Mayan Families/Mission Guatemala pre-school in San Andres are receiving this treatment from the Mission Dental Clinic.

So that only leaves the children from the Tierra Linda Pre-school and we are going to try and get them to San Jorge on Wed.

Sharon Smart-Poage
MAYAN FAMILIES
Panajachel, Guatemala.
Web: www.mayanfamilies.org