Virginia Commonwealth University – School of Dentistry

Final Report – Dental Services for Trelawny Parish, Jamaica

October 25 – November 11, 2010

This report reflects the dental treatment rendered by the dental teams from Virginia Commonwealth University-School of Dentistry, Richmond, Virginia, while in Trelawny Parish from October 25 through November 11, 2010, and is for the Ministry of Health, Trelawny Parish, Falmouth, Trelawny, Jamaica.

The team at Endless Summer Villa, Silver Sands Jamaica

Three teams of senior dental students, resident students, and dental faculty totaling 18 students and 11 faculty worked mainly at Long Pond Clinic, Clarkstown, Trelawny, for three weeks. At the request of MOH, we also worked in Albert Town, Bunker Hill, and the Hage School.

The following tables reflect the treatment rendered at these sites:

Table I: LONG POND CLINIC

Group1 Group 2: Group 3

Oct.25-29 Nov 1-5 Nov 8-11 TOTALS

Table II: OFFSITE CLINICS/SCHOOLS TREATMENT

Hage School Albert Town Bunker Hill

A = Adult patients P = Pediatric patients

Table III: TOTAL COMBINED ON & OFFSITE TREATMENT

Procedures Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 TOTALS

As can be seen in table III, all three groups performed 4200+ procedures over the three week period at all sites. Our groups worked at several offsite locations in conjunction with MOH, Trelawny, for the first time in many years and we would like to see this effort grow. We will need to negotiate with MOH the use of their inventory of supplies when we go to their facilities. The treatment of 88 patients at Albert Town and Bunker Hill depleted our supply of anesthesia to the point of having to close Long Pond Clinic on Friday, November 12, because we ran out of local anesthetic. In the future, we could certainly expand our services to additional facilities provided that MOH can supply us with adequate inventory. We will be in contact with MOH about this need before our trip next year.

Again rising costs concern us and could lead to canceling part or all of our yearly trip. With the increasing cost of onsite transportation and housing, our students are struggling to meet the financial burden of the trip. We would like to thank the home owners at Silver Sands for providing us with housing at a reduced cost to minimize our expenses. Many thanks to Mr. Keith Russell and his wife Paula for continuing to be our local sponsor and for arranging entertainment for our groups while in Trelawny. Also, we want to thank Long Pond Refinery for the use of their clinic facility as our home base and for allowing Nurse Reid to assist us in our treatment of patients. She is invaluable in the services that she provides us!

One area of significant improvement this past year was the involvement of MOH in Kingston by providing our first group (arrival on October 24) with direct help in passing through customs in Montego Bay. The leaders of that group express their gratitude to Mr. Evroy Battiese, Procurement Officer from MOH, Kingston, for the help he provided at the airport. Without his guidance our entry would have been much more cumbersome and costly. We would hope that this help will continue yearly!

We look forward to a continued and growing relationship with all the local officials in Trelawny and, as always, we thank the people of Trelawny for their warm reception and it is our privilege to provide them with dental services while we are there.

Also find attached a separate report submitted by Dr. Matthew Cooke that details his efforts at the various offsite facilities that he serviced. His data is included in the tables of my report.

Respectfully Submitted,
Dr. Robert Barnes
Adjunct Professor
Virginia Commonwealth University – School of Dentistry
Richmond, VA 23298

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