Nowhere was this made more clear than when I participated in the charity dental clinic Nine Miles of Smiles, formed by Kim Daley, in Jamaica this past February. In Canada, in general, we are spoiled. I’ve never been exposed to such extremes of poverty and luxury in one place before. Biannual cleanings were normal for me. OHIP is normal to me. If I have any pains, I know a few doctors I can call.
It is unimaginable that in Jamaica some people have to wait a year in pain to be able to see a NMS dentist who can extract a tooth. Imagine eating soft foods for months because you can’t afford to have a denture made.
In Jamaica, missing a few teeth is a big deal. “With missing teeth they cannot get the better jobs in the resorts. [Last year] we made [a young man who was missing his two front teeth] a denture and when we came back he was working in a hotel and supporting his mother and sister with his new job,” says Al McOrmond, dental technician, denturist, and instructor at George Brown College who has been organizing this trip every year for George Brown dental students since 2010.
Nine Miles of Smiles team of denturists, hygienists, dental technicians and a dentist at our private villa.
After being exposed to the tropical beauty that is Jamaica, it was sobering to see the dozens of people waiting for us at the clinic for our arrival each day. What we did was important. When a denture costs more than half of what some of these people are making in a year, it is not an option. To be able to provide dentures, cleanings, and extractions free of charge allowed these people to eat better, speak clearer and live without pain.
As dental technicians, our standard of practice does not allow us to work intraorally. We rarely see patients at all. In Jamaica we were exposed to the entire process, from screening patients to the final insertion of the denture. Vittoria Pietrantonio, one of the students this year, had a favourite patient – Cordette. We screened her on Monday and told her we’d have her denture by Friday. We saw her at the grocery store in Ocho Rios, and we got to know her better as a person while waiting in line. “She told us about her struggles without having teeth and how excited she was that we were making her a denture. She has a wedding to go to in a few months and she told us that now she can dance, laugh, and sing again with her friends and family.
"You changed my life," she said.
Al McOrmond on the left and Rafik Andrawes on the right, inserting dentures.