October 10, 2019

Volunteer dental students and faculty from the Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry recently spent their fall break week thousands of miles away from home, providing checkups, treatment and other services for more than 1,000 people in need. 

In Jamaica, a group of volunteers worked in three clinics in Jamaica’s South Coast region, in the Torrington, Brompton and Whitehouse communities. These clinics were set up in community centers or churches. The volunteers cared for both children and adults of all ages, seeing nearly 1,200 patients in the community clinics over four days. There was a total of 60 volunteers, including 49 students and 11 faculty and staff.

In Guatemala, the 24-member volunteer group included 18 dental students, two dental hygiene students and four faculty members. They operated out of an established six-chair adult clinic run by Pacific Dental Services. Volunteers stayed in Antigua and provided care at the clinic located in rural Sampango, roughly a 40-minute drive from Antigua. The group provided restorative procedures, extractions, cleanings and root canals to many patients, most of whom were adults.

The trips are among several international mission trips that Dugoni School volunteers have recently coordinated. Over the summer break, a group of volunteers traveled to Cebu in the Philippines to provide dental care and oral health information to underserved children at an elementary school.

Contact: Office of Marketing and Communications, 415.929.6434, pr@pacific.edu

Categories: Community Impact, Faculty, Featured, Staff, Students, 2019

Contact: Office of Marketing and Communications, 415.929.6434, pr@pacific.edu