News
A Thousand Smiles
May 26, 2007
By Kjeld Aamodt (Kell) UCSD Pre-Dental Student
If you can ever judge a book by its cover (or title), it is with the Thousand Smiles Foundation. Conceived in 1985 by San Diego Rotarians, the project is dedicated to “making a difference, one smile at a time.”
The Foundation specializes in cleft lip and palate reconstruction and provides general dental care for those who may not have any other access to care. With the professional efforts of general dentists, audiologists, maxillofacial surgeons, and physicians, the program is designed to serve approximately 150 children during each two-day session, which occur every three months. The work is stripped down to the basics, no messing with payment or insurance companies; it’s all about providing health care to those who need it. Moreover, the general sentiment is that helping in such a pure form becomes an immensely gratifying experience for everyone involved. In line with such a suitable name as Thousand Smiles Foundation, generally, smiles are not only exuding from of the patients and their families as they leave the operatories, but also effusively spilling out of the dentists and volunteers who all seem to share the joys of altruism. After meeting in the dark San Diego fog of the early morning on Friday, you can expect a full day ahead of you working in the Ensenada clinic. We start out early, setting up the operatories for the weekend, starting up the check-in computers, and making sure the antiquated x-ray machine is ready to function. Within a short time, the patients and their families begin to arrive, filling in the taped-off street in front of the clinic. At this point, we all break off into smaller groups to work various parts of the operation- check-in, x-rays, patient charting, and chair-side assisting.
The first day is when all of the patients are screened to determine who will have surgery the following day. The second day is spent primarily at the dental clinic assisting the general dentists and endodontists performing an array of procedures ranging from root canals, to extractions. Often groups of volunteers are allowed to visit the hospital where the surgeries are under way. Viewing the cleft palate reconstruction surgeries is the highlight of many volunteers clinical experience. Although a particular case may take more than 4 hours of meticulous work between numerous oral surgeons, the result is astonishing when compared to the initial condition.
Through my experience with the Thousand Smiles Foundation in Ensenada Mexico, I had the opportunity to discover how the burden of disease can be lessened by research and clinical outreach. I was fascinated by one particular case involving a child with the genetic disorder Amelogenesis Imperfecta, which results in the absence of enamel formation during teeth development. The genetics of the disorder intrigued me; caused by an autosomal dominant mutation, I would have thought there would be tremendous selection pressure against such a serious disorder because the effects are so visible. However, in a society where proper dental hygiene is not accessible to most, a disfiguring condition such as this is less likely to be seen as a genetic defect and more likely to be interpreted as an unavoidable and expected sign of tooth decay. I was eager to research it in literature and learn more about the trait’s properties, and it was the first thing I did when I got back home to internet access, even before I unpacked!The Thousand Smiles Foundation affords a myriad of opportunities not only to its patients, but also to its volunteers. As members of the UCSD Pre-Dental Society, we have a peerless program established to witness firsthand the positive influence of community outreach. A weekend with the Thousand Smiles Foundation surely shows that there is never a dull moment in dentistry.
PDS Student Volunteers from left to right: Second Row: Ujval Gummi, Ryan Reyes, Megan Tsakalos, Brian Lu, Kennie Kwok.Front Row: Elliot Kleiman, Jessica Nguyen, Julia Ng, Lindsay Godfrey, Kjeld Aamodt