In November 2019, myself (Dr David), Dr Fizza and 4 other 3rd year dental students from The University of Melbourne went to Nepal for a dental outreach project. It involved 9 days of clinics, treating everything from gum disease to tooth decay. Involving cleans, check ups, fillings and extractions. We were the smallest group that they had ever had but we were up for the challenge.

Around Good People is a not-for-profit organisation that provides free treatment to the community in the form of patient screening,preventative, restorative and surgical dentistry.

Why Nepal?

Nepal ranks 138th in the world in overall human development, behind such countries as India and Bangladesh and one of the least developed countries in Asia (According to the United Nations). About one-half of the Nepalese people live in poverty. They endure the typical problems of impoverished people around the world, such as high rates of malnourishment, childhood mortality and illiteracy. Poverty in Nepal is concentrated in rural villages and among lower castes and ethnic minorities. These villages are often located in remote, mountain villages that are geographically isolated and far from basic services. Subsistence agriculture is the rule, leaving villagers little opportunity to improve their welfare. These rural ethnic areas have seen little of the modest economic growth that has benefited larger cities in Nepal. Rural healthcare services are at best rudimentary, with government health posts often going unstaffed and undersupplied for years. Dentistry is almost nil in these part of the world. Nutrition is inadequate; vaccination rates are poor. The only way to reach these areas and marginalized communities is by organizing dental outreach projects volunteered by the international crews of dentists/oral health professionals.
Sourced from AroundGoodPeople.com

Insight into the situation over there (Gentleman in the bottom left photo above)

This was a 91 year old male, that had only 4 teeth left that were extremely infected and needed to be removed. Two of which were just roots meaning they had lost the top of the tooth. The other 2 were very mobile, blowing in the wind. This lovely gentleman has been a farmer in this part of Nepal all his life, desperately wanting dentures since he was 50 years old. Unfortunately his family could not afford their removal as well as getting the dentures at the same time. There is no government support in Nepal like what we have here in Australia for these individuals. His family decided just to keep the remaining teeth as extraction was not viable for their family. Once the family found out that we were coming to their town they were filled with joy. We successfully and painlessly remove the remaining teeth. He was so happy and gave us blessings. His family were over the moon as it now allows them to get the dentures for him. This is just one of the many amazing stories that we came across while treating over there. If you ever get a chance as a dental student, dentist or as an assistant I would highly recommend it.

"I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand"

To find out more about the amazing work that the organisation Around Good People are doing please click the button below: