To Africa with love ODS dental hygiene students put their skills to work helping children in Liberia

Sydney Craven, left, and Ashley Nichols, examined children like this one in Liberia without the aid of dental chairs and other modern devices they are accustomed to using. - Submitted photo

Nichols was in Monrovia, Liberia, examining children for dental problems as a member of the volunteer Destination Africa Dental Team of La Grande. She had never encountered so many children with serious dental problems, not surprising considering none of the youths had ever seen a toothbrush much less squeezed a tube of toothpaste or opened a package of dental floss.

Nichols was looking into the mouth of a Liberian child. For once the dental student did feel a sense of distress.

“I said, ‘Oh my gosh, nothing is wrong.’’’

Unfortunately Nichols and the other members of her team saw precious few such children during a one-week visit that started in late October and continued though early November.

Healthy sets of teeth may have been hard to find among Monrovia’s children, but spotting frowns was harder.

The children, students at Jennie Preparatory elementary school, are from families with little income and have no electricity or running water.

Still, their cups runneth over with enthusiasm and generosity.

Just ask any of the seven members of the Destination Africa Dental Team, all of whom are connected to the ODS College of Dental Sciences in La Grande.

“We never felt like strangers. We were so warmly embraced and accepted. They couldn’t do enough to please us,’’ said Pauline Stuedli, an ODS faculty member.

The children all come from homes that have no electricity or running water and little money. Most of their children’s families have an income of $50 a month, miniscule in a country where a bag of rice costs $45. Low income, though, does not make for low spirits.

“They appreciate the small things in life. They are so happy with nothing. They just love life,’’ said Sydney Craven, a member of the dental team and an ODS student.

Members of the Destination Africa Dental Team pose for a photo with children in Monrovia, Liberia, about a month ago. The dental team members shown are, from left, Jade Grant, Ashley Nichols, Sydney Craven and Chelsea Koch. - Submitted photo

Together team members provided 1,200 children with fluoride varnish treatments, which will prevent tooth decay. A total of 225 children were given cleanings, treated for periodontal disease or had teeth extracted. The more advanced dental work was done by dentist Ed Stuedli.

The dental team also distributed 2,500 toothbrushes to the children and provided instructions on how to use them.

“They were so happy to have something given to them,’’ Craven said.

Craven is one of 48 students at the ODS College of Dental Sciences in La Grande. The school is operated under a cooperative agreement involving Eastern Oregon University, Oregon Institute of Technology and ODS. Its students are studying to become dental hygienists.

The La Grande dental team had to do without electricity, making it more challenging to provide dental services. They also had to work in hot humid conditions.

“The humidity never lets up,’’ Nichols said.

Still, members of the dental team did not complain, following the example of the impoverished children they served.

“They don’t think of themselves as suffering,’’ Grant said.

In fact, the children consider themselves blessed and want to reach out to those less fortunate than themselves.

“They talk of giving to the poor,’’ Pauline Stuedli said.

The Jennie Prepatory school the children attend is run by its founder, Jennie Frietag, whose daughter, Jodie Isaacson, is a graduate of the ODS College of Dental Sciences in La Grande.

Members of the Destination Africa Dental Team speak in awe of the school’s staff and people like its principal. The educator walks four miles from his home to the school each day where he works tirelessly for no pay.

“Even when he is ill he does not take a day off,’’ Nichols said.

The school’s students, who never get a day off from lives of limited means, appreciated the financial sacrifices made by members of the dental team to come visit them.

“They kept saying, ‘You paid your own money to come here,’’’ Craven said. “You could tell it really meant a lot that someone cared about them.’’