Local dentist Dr. Jerri Ann Buxton was the first dentist to provide dental care to almost 400 patients in an underserved area in Guatemala in late January.
Buxton volunteered to be part of a dental team that visited a dental clinic established in 2022 in the remote village of El Triunfo, population approximately 280.
Buxton described her reception to what appeared to be a “very forgotten village” as “kind and grateful.”
“The people in villages seemed mostly happy, content; the children were so loving and kind, they hugged us constantly,” said Buxton.
Guatemala Hope, a charity created in Woodslee 25 years ago, organizes the annual volunteer missions and provides a school bus for villagers to visit the dental clinic.
Two dental hygiene students applied fluoride treatments while Buxton performed tooth extractions when needed.
Buxton said the team did their best to make the patients comfortable and understand the procedure.
“Communication was difficult at times, even with the use of a translator and Google translate but I am certain the patients I worked on were very appreciative,” she added.
The dentist learned residents have limited access to health care – a nurse might only visit once a month.
There is no pharmacy, although Buxton was told a corner store may sell some medications.
The team travelled to an even more remote village where the residents had no transportation.
Buxton said the villagers drank from a well that can run dry during the dry season and the water is unclean.
“Almost everyone has worms and parasites,” she said.
The dentist noted the residents cook over fire.
Up to 11 people live in a one room home with the pigs and chickens.
Half of the year is rainy, and everything is just mud and the walls provide no shelter, she explained.
Most children only get up to a grade six education; many adults could not sign their name, said Buxton.
Buxton said she felt Guatemala Hope had a huge impact on the village residents by providing them with some medications, tooth extractions and water filters.
“This trip had a huge impact on me,” said Buxton. “To see children who are malnourished as the diet is almost entirely corn tortillas with little access to fresh fruit and vegetables and rarely protein was difficult,” she said.
“To see the amount of dental decay in their mouths and lack of ability to deal with it broke my heart at times. It felt surreal and almost like being on a different planet on occasion, especially how they exist with so little when we have so much.”
The mission also had a ‘huge impact’ on her daughter, another team member.
“I would be very eager to return on a yearly basis,” said Buxton.
“A woman told me that the organization Guatemala Hope coming back every year gives their village hope and that they feel someone cares about them,” she said.
The charity ‘supports the well-being of families with limited resources in El Triunfo, Santa Domingo, and Suchitepequez, Guatemala,’ according to its website.
If you are able to make a donation to support the annual missions, visit the charity’s website at https://www.guatemalahope.ca/donate.
the burg watch 