For many tourists who want to get to know and experience South America, Bolivia is an attractive destination. The landlocked country located at the heart of South America offers beautiful natural surroundings and – due to its extreme differences in altitude – a diverse landscape and a varied climate. However, there are many aspects that make travelling to Bolivia difficult, including the poor infrastructure and the high crime rates in the country, which is characterised by poverty in many places. Often, medical care for people is only very modest at best.
The situation is even more dramatic in the country’s remote areas, such as on La Isla del Sol (The Island of the Sun) on Lake Titicaca, which is one of the most popular destinations in Bolivia. Around 3,000 people live at the almost unimaginable altitude of up to 4,000 metres. Despite the relatively high number of inhabitants, there was no dental care and next to no medical care there until 2013. So, for many people, a visit to the dentist brings enormous difficulties, because travelling to the mainland requires a great deal of time and money.
Support from Dentists and Friends
In the face of such conditions, support from international aid organisations is important to at least give some of the locals basic information about oral hygiene and prevention of caries, and to provide dental treatment. The German aid organisation Dentists and Friends offers medical assistance to needy people who are based in undeveloped areas around the world. This is provided in collaboration both with the local organisations and governments and with dental companies such as VOCO which provide the team being deployed with dental equipment. VOCO once again provided equipment for the Isla del Sol aid project to help make the aid efforts a success.
Austrian dentist among those deployed
The team being deployed for this project included the young dentist Dr Tobias Pichler from Linz (Austria). He spent two months on the Isla del Sol, where he treated a number of adults, as well as many children, together with project coordinator Dr Annette Schoof-Hosemann and other colleagues.
The dentist was shaken by the Bolivian population’s low quality of life: “You could see poverty and hopelessness on the streets and on people’s faces. Poor living conditions, questionable hygiene and third-world comfort awaited us. The residents, most of whom were shepherds, mainly looked at us with scepticism, but they were still friendly and sometimes even interested in our ‘idea of oral health’.”
The project’s primary objective was to educate the school children on the Isla del Sol about the important aspects of dental hygiene. Even though the aid organisation’s staff had been visiting schools for several years, there were still a number of children who “were clearly seeing a ‘brush for the teeth’ for the first time and were unfamiliar both with how to hold it and with the circular motions used,” explained Dr Pichler. The team practiced toothbrushing together with the children and performed numerous fluoridation treatments. In addition to the lack of awareness concerning dental care, unhealthy food in schools was yet another problem. Dr Pichler added that it was sad to see “the children going on to eat cocoa and sweet popcorn with their freshly cleaned and fluoridated teeth”.
The second deployment location was in a “consultório” (doctor’s surgery), which was well-stocked with equipment thanks to the donations. Unfortunately, extraction remained the only possible treatment in many cases. However, fillings could also be used to treat to some teeth worth preserving.
The project’s track record
The two dentistry teams (Dr Tobias Pichler, Dr Annette Schoof-Hosemann and the dentistry students Tanas Mastani and Diva Nang from Bonn, as well as dentist Carina Baumgart and students Lena Spangler and Leonard Heym) treated almost 150 patients in total during their stay. More than 400 children were also given toothbrushes and toothpaste, and their teeth were fluoridated. Involvement in the project allowed them to acquire valuable experiences and meet people. The patients’ gratitude and the children’s curiosity left a powerful impression on the entire team. Dr Tobias Pichler is already certain that this project won't have been his last, because “there are still countless places and people in need on this Earth”.
Source: Dr Tobias Pichler, Dr Annette Schoof-Hosemann/Dentists and Friends