They treated and taught how to brush teeth

Two of this year's graduates of the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at Wroclaw Medical University spent part of their summer vacation helping the people of Africa. Witold Swienc and Aleksandra Wojtyga traveled to Rwanda to teach the people there how to take care of their oral hygiene and treat their teeth as much as conditions allowed, which were very modest.

Anna Szejda

It started with the International Association of Dental Students. Among its members is the Polish Society of Dental Students, whose president is Witold Swienc, this year's graduate of the medical and dental faculty at UMW, currently an intern doctor at the University Dental Center on Krakowska Street.

- When our Rwandan counterpart joined the association, we offered congratulations to its members, which initiated talks about possible cooperation, says Witold. - Later there was an idea that we would go to them to help the people in the poorest areas of the country and at the same time exchange experiences with our colleagues there.

They went from plans to deeds. Nine members of the Polish Dental Students Association decided to go on a volunteer trip. They bore most of the costs themselves, and the organization of their stay in Kigali (the capital of Rwanda - ed. note) was handled by members of the Rwanda Dental Students Association. On site they stayed in a three-star hotel, one of the best, they were told, in that part of the city. However, it turned out that the standards there are different from those in Poland.

- Quite often there was no water at all, and when there was, it was only cold," laughs the young doctor. - With 30-degree heat, it bothered us a bit, but we were aware that we were not going on an exclusive vacation.

Anyway, during the week they spent little time at the hotel. They would get up at the crack of dawn and were already on the bus at around 6 a.m. to get to the villages 25-30 kilometers away at 9 a.m. They were also on the bus for the trip.

- There are no asphalt roads there, you drive on sand at low speed, which is why it took so long," explains Vytautas. The commute alone took them six hours a day, and for the next seven or eight they received patients.

Most of Rwanda has limited access to specialists, as there are only about 200 specialist doctors in a country of almost 13 million people. Yes, there is a private, very well-equipped clinic in the capital, but it is out of reach for many people, mainly financially. So are hygiene products.

- Let's say that with average earnings of $100 you have to pay eight or nine dollars for toothpaste. These are the proportions," explains the PTSS president, adding that thanks to the support of pharmaceutical companies they took basic utensils to Africa. Everyone who came to the meeting received their kit. There was no shortage of interested people, as word quickly spread through the grapevine that there were doctors from Europe on site. Some patients set out from their villages and towns as early as two in the morning to make their appointments.

- Some wanted to benefit from examinations and learn how to brush their teeth, which is very encouraging, but there were also those who clearly needed intervention. When they came, they immediately showed where they were in pain, which could mean that they had been suffering for quite a long time, but couldn't count on medical help near where they lived," Witold recalls.

Interviews with Rwandan patients show that almost 90 percent of them take care of their oral cleanliness on average once a month. However, they don't use toothbrushes and toothpastes; some didn't even know what they were for. Most of the local population "brushes their teeth" by chewing on tree and shrub twigs, which are supposed to have cariostatic properties (prevent tooth decay - ed. note).

- With this knowledge, we were surprised by the relatively small scale of tooth decay, which only confirms the theory of how destructive the consumption of sweets, or sugar, is to teeth," Witold adds.

The young doctors received patients in a room provided by a local hospital. They were provided with wooden benches and chairs that in no way resembled dental chairs. Instead, they had no free access to running water and electricity. The conditions did not allow for traditional cavity treatment, let alone root canal treatment, for example. Therefore, they mainly performed scaling (removal of tartar deposits - ed. note) and extractions.

- According to what we were taught in college, however, surgery was a last resort. If the tooth was alive and we saw that it could be saved, we encouraged it. Interestingly, there is no institution there like our National Health Fund. The patient pays 15 percent for the medical service, and the rest comes from the state budget, the doctor says. So they tore up painful teeth, those that had been overcome by decay or eighths that distorted the bite and made it difficult to keep clean (if only with twigs). They estimate that in the course of two weeks they helped some 3,500 Rwandans, and showed another five thousand how to take care of their oral hygiene.

They have more missions planned. They already know that for the future they need to accommodate as close as possible to where those they want to help live. There was also an idea to visit Ethiopia in addition to Rwanda, and the Indian minority encouraged them to go to support the people of their homeland. They also want to regularly send toothbrushes and toothpaste to "their patients," meaning those they have taught how to take care of their hygiene.

- Although we went to an exotic place, it is difficult to call this trip a vacation. However, we have great satisfaction," concludes the head of PTSS.

Photo: Polish Society of Dental Students