MANKATO — The Belizean island of Ambergris Caye is well known for its white beaches and snorkeling spots, but over the past 14 years, another remarkable thing has arisen on the isle: free dental care.
Since 2013, groups of Mankato dentists, surgeons, university faculty and dental hygiene students have traveled to the town of San Pedro on Ambergris Caye for a week at the turn of February, where they perform free fillings, tooth extractions and a variety of oral procedures for residents at two clinics on the island.
In addition to helping with patients, the students also offer educational sessions on flossing and brushing at elementary schools.
While each excursion to Belize is different, they all have a lasting impact on the patients and the providers.
“Every year is just really rewarding,” said Brigette Cooper, mission founder and professor in the dental hygiene program at Minnesota State University. “We are seeing about 200 patients in the clinics, and then we’re seeing about 2,000 kids in the school where we do the patient education and paint on fluoride to help prevent or stop decay.”
This spring’s trip included a cohort of 30 students, but it hasn’t always been this robust. It started small, with Cooper’s desire to create a study abroad experience for her senior students.
Having heard of a volunteer dental clinic that a Minnesota dentist opened on the island, Cooper flew to Ambergris Caye in 2012 to get familiar with the people and system there. A week later, Cooper returned to the U.S. with a request for MSU’s administration to let her design and implement a similar program for MSU students.
A year later, the first group of students and dentists hopped on a plane to Ambergris Caye, where they would spend the next week providing free dental care at a clinic in the Holy Cross Anglican School and the San Pedro Polyclinic, the government-run medical and dental center in the town.
The group consisted of six students, three doctors, three other faculty members and a few additional staff, Cooper said, including Dr. Richard Kim.
When Cooper asked Kim, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon who’s been practicing in Mankato for almost 25 years, to help start the mission trip, he was eager to accept.
“I said, ‘It’ll be my first time doing a mission trip, but you know, let’s start something new.’ Something that the students, some referring dentists and other doctors can do to help the people of Belize,” Kim said.
Like Cooper, Kim has gone every year since. Just this year, he and his team of dentists performed 119 restorative fillings, which is repairing a damaged tooth, and 58 extractions, in addition to some biopsies and infection-management procedures.
Kim said the fact he returns every year has helped him establish a relationship with the country’s dental minister of health and also fosters fellowship among the doctors and dental community.
“We are not there for cultural appropriation or anything,” Kim said. “We’re there generally to just give our time and our services, and because we go there every year, I think they understand that we want to do a good job.”
He and the group see many of the same families year after year.
“The island is small enough that they know when we’re there, and then they tell all of their friends,” Kim said. “And sometimes there’ll be announcements on the radio or TV or the newsletters that we’re going to be there, and patients are always there.”
Dr. Douglas Vose, who has a private general dental practice in Mankato, joined the program four years ago, and he’s observed the positive impact it’s had on both the Belizean patients and MSU students.
“Some of these kids, it’s the first time they’ve ever even put their hands on a toothbrush. The dental students can help these kids so they at least pick up a toothbrush, become a little more aware of what things to eat and what things to avoid,” Vose said.
“For the students, it’s an eye-opener. They work at a very nice clinic at MSU. This is just enough to get by. It’s very basic equipment, so you just make do with the equipment that you have.”
Dental companies — including Henry Schein, Patterson Dental, Nobel Biocare and 3M — donate all of the necessary supplies to the program, Cooper said. Students pay a course fee to cover travel costs. The Dental Education Department hosts a Miles for Smiles 5k to help raise money for students struggling to pay.
Given the enthusiasm from the patients in Belize and the students, Kim hopes this program will continue to grow and inspire other groups to start their own mission trips.
“There are a lot of good dentists here that really give their time not just to the community, but also take time out to help others out in other places as well,” Kim said. “We really do try to take care of our own community here, but we also take a lot of the time to help other people out as well.”