University of Illinois at Chicago Team Travels to San José de Ocoa

University of Illinois at Chicago Team Travels to San José de Ocoa
for Mountain Dentistry in the Middle of the World
 
Third-year University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) College of Dentistry student Laura Socias, Associate Professor of Oral Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences Dr. Sara Gordon, and Associate Professor of Pediatric Dentistry Dr. Linda Kaste visited the city and province of San José de Ocoa in the Dominican Republic for a week recently to assess the potential for partnership between UIC and the local community to supplement dental services in the province.
Drs. Kaste and Gordon provided some basic dental services to mountain villages as part of their feasibility and needs assessment.
      Although Socias was born in the Dominican Republic, this was her first trip to San José de Ocoa. It also was the first trip for Dr. Gordon. Dr. Kaste has visited 17 times previously on dental missions and is well-known in the local healthcare community. 
      Socias kept a journal during her week. “It was a great and awesome trip,” she said. “We learned a lot about the Ocoan community and we learned to love its people. We learned how to not only give to a needing community but to accept the help and the gifts people gave us.”
      Not all the lessons were serious, however. One day on the street, Socias was scolded by an older lady for wearing black scrubs. The woman told her that it was bad luck to wear black because it could cause cancer.
      One of the local dentists, Dr. Daniele Pena, joined Drs. Kaste and Gordon for three days as they extracted teeth in makeshift operatories including the front porch of a local house and on the second floor of a school. Clean water was in short supply because of a drought, so they brought in large jugs of water for washing every day. At one location, they had to fend off the chickens, which wanted to drink the water from the hand-washing station.
      Language lessons became an ongoing project. Socias translated for the team, especially for Dr. Gordon, who knew almost no Spanish before the trip. “We learned the differences between ‘mula’ [Spanish for ‘mule’] and ‘burro’ [Spanish for ‘donkey’],” said Socias.
The group became good friends with the children in the mountain villages, for whom the visit of the foreign dentists was a highlight of the summer. The children swarmed Socias, who was a good-natured source of stickers and toothbrushes as well as a prominent role model. In return, the children harvested a mound of wild limes, which they presented so the group could make fresh limeade.
      Emilia “Milita” Mejia, health committee leader, and Nelson Arias, chauffeur, from the Foundation of the Provincial Senator José Pedro Alegría joined the UIC group daily as colleagues and accompanied them to the countryside “clinics.” The Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph made available room and board at the Centro Padre Arturo. Although the housing was very simple – a concrete block dormitory with ceiling fans – it was luxurious compared to the homes of the villagers in the mountains, who often live in wooden shacks with thatched roofs.
      A number of people played behind-the-scenes roles. Kathleen Boyce, Clinic Inventory Coordinator, UIC College of Dentistry Clinics, and Dr. Michael Miloro, Head, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, UIC College of Dentistry, lent instruments and donated dental supplies. The UIC College of Pharmacy donated medications for the trip. Socias’ parents, Maria and Joseph Socias, and aunt Dr. Lourdes Socías de García-Godoy, provided accommodations, transportation, and local dental supplies for the trip. Dr. Frank Serio of the University of Mississippi lent dental instruments. Canadian high school teacher Diane Longtin and her group of students and teachers, who were in the province building hurricane-resistant homes, shared their lunch and experiences.
      Socias, Dr. Gordon, and Dr. Kaste welcome the opportunity to talk with anyone interested in the experience. The future partnering between San José de Ocoa and the UIC College of Dentistry is yet to be determined, but as a Dominican representative for the United Nations focusing on AIDS shared during the public health assessment portion, the Dominican Republic is a very interesting and valuable place for learning about the world as it is considered to the “middle of the middle” among the global economic ranking of countries. Contact Socias at lscocia1@uic.edu, Dr. Gordon at gordonsa@uic.edu, and Dr. Kaste at kaste@uic.edu. 
 

Transportation and administrative support were provided for the team 
by the local Fundacion Jose Pedro Alegria. Standing in front of the 
Fundacion's truck are, left to right, Dr. Sara Gordon of the College, driver 
Nelson Arias, Dr. Daniele Pena of St Jose de Ocoa, Dr. Linda Kaste of the College, 
administrator Emilia “Milita” Mejia,, and third year UIC dental student Laura Socias. 
 

This front porch served as a dental operatory for two days; patients 
sat in straight chairs and a tarp served as a privacy screen.  The 
team took dental instruments and supplies into the country with them, 
and the local hospital autoclaved them every night.