I am so thankful that I was given the opportunity to go to Ecuador to serve the people of Quito through dentistry. This experience taught me service, humility, love, and gratitude as well as helped me to develop my skills in dentistry. We were able to treat on average 100 patients per day and completed over $80,000 worth of dentistry. However, the time I spent conversing with my patients and taking the time to pray with and for them was the most valuable to me. I was able to witness several patients hear the Gospel and accept Christ as their savior.
Some of the problems we encountered included not being able to correct every need for every patient. Several of the people who came to the clinic had multiple issues in their mouth and we were only able to treat one of those needs. The last day we experienced a power outage for about an hour and I believe that it was the Lord’s will to help us slow down the pace and truly care for these patients not only physically but spiritually as well. We corrected this trend by committing to spend time praying with each patient before starting the procedures.
A skill specific to dentistry that I learned from this trip involved caring for children. I was able to give local anesthetic and completed extractions on children that did not readily cooperate. Considering the difficulties with patient management, it was a great experience for me to learn from a highly trained pediatric dentist. This will be a great skill to transfer back to the U.S. and implement into my future practice.
I am grateful for the opportunity I was given in Ecuador and I am hopeful that I will be able to continue to go on routine dental mission trips in the future.
Dental Missions to Quito, Ecuador
