A team of 12 arrived last Saturday from Denmark for the Dental Mission that we are holding from January 9-13. The dentists, dental hygienists, dental assistants and office personnel all work at “Svanen” (the Swan) dental clinic from Lyngby at the outskirts of Copenhagen, Denmark. Dr. Per Bjørndal, co-owner of the clinic, has joined our dental mission twice before, and was so touched by the wonderful experiences he had, that he decided to suggest to all his work-mates that they go to Cebu together, and as a team make a difference for extremely poor and destitute people in Cebu.
Dr. Per and his assistant, Birgitte treating a patient from the rubbish dump
The dental team did fundraising for their trip, and brought with them a good amount of materials from companies who donated toward the dental mission. Flemming and Elisabet Hansen worked on getting it all organized for the Dental Mission that started Monday morning. We want to express our gratefulness! You are helping us make a big difference!
In Cebu, friends of Rise Above Foundation also gave donations toward the mission, making it possible to treat everyone for free.
Before the team started, they had to get acquainted with what kind of medicines, materials and instruments were available
This is how the clinic is set up. Everyone are working well together, and there was plenty to do for everyone
Mercedes, a 32 years old woman had 5 teeth removed, including two of her front teeth. Mars from Rise Above Cebu and Birthe made a small denture with 2 teeth to replace the front teeth she lost
No wonder Mercedes is smiling. Not only was she rid of her pain, she also received the artificial teeth that again made her feel like a beautiful woman
Mercedes together with the two technicians who made her new teeth - Mars and Britt
Lone, far left is volunteering with Rise Above for 6 months, and Lene are visiting for 3 weeks. They worked at the sterilization area, seeing to that all the instruments were washed and sterilized before being returned to the trays
Dr. Camilla and her assistant, Michelle worked hard to treat as many patients as possible
Dr. Per with his assistant Dorte together with two of the teachers from Cebu Missionary Foundation and the mother, all tried to encourage this little 5 year old girl to open her mouth for treatment, but she plainly refused. They will return again tomorrow. Maybe she will let the dentist extract her tooth. We'll see. It was filmed by Victor, who is one of a team of 3 that's working on making a documentary on the work the dentists from Denmark are doing here in Cebu.
The children are so brave. Only very few have cried. This girl is playing with Joe the Rabbit, who was here to cheer up a lot of kids, while she is waiting for treatment.
Day 2 is almost over, and the team have 3 more days to go. Stay tuned for more news from the Dental Mission among the extreme poor in Cebu City, Philippines.
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Tags: Dental Mission, Dental Missions, dental treatment, dentists from Denmark, Free dental care, Free Dental Clinic, free treatment, helping the poor, medical mission, Team building, Team working
