I'm a Dentist

My assignment Thursday: Check all the kid’s teeth to see which ones have cavities so bad they need to have their teeth pulled.

Um, I know nothing about dentistry. Where I come from, when you have cavities, you fill them. You don’t just pull the teeth. Or do you when it’s really bad? I don’t know! I was given a piece of paper and a pen and told to look at each student’s teeth and write down which ones needed teeth pulled. I was told to stop at 5 names. I guess that’s all the dentist had time for. There are 100 kids in our school. The teachers who gave me the assignment were nonchalant about it and seemed to assume there would be more than 5 students with teeth so bad they needed to be pulled. This whole situation was a definite first for me. I tried to say that I have never done this before, but I fumbled the Spanish on that somehow and confused the teacher I was talking to, so I just agreed to help.

I did as I was asked and went student by student asking them to open their mouths and looking at their teeth. I have honestly never looked at so many people’s teeth. It woke me up about where I am and the medical opportunities available here. Some kids ran away from me, as I expected. Others saw me inspecting teeth and actually approached me, telling me their teeth were hurting them and asking for help. Dentists of the world, know that you are needed!

I saw a boy who had a hole in his tooth so big there was hardly a tooth. I guessed that is the type of situation they expected. Another boy clearly had a hole in his tooth, but I wasn’t sure if it needed to come out. When I gave the teacher the names, I told her which one I wasn’t sure about. She looked at me surprised and asked “No estas segura?” which means “You’re not sure?” and I thought “I don’t know anything about dentistry! I don’t want to be responsible for taking this child’s tooth out if it’s not absolutely necessary. I don’t know what the options for filling teeth are here in Guatemala. How could I possibly be sure?” I felt the weight of responsibility for a child’s health, and I won’t lie, it stressed me out. This is why I am not in the medical field.

The names I had and some that other teachers found were given to a dentist (I hope), and the kids were taken outside the school. I don’t know where they went. I hope there was a dentist office of some sort, but I have learned not to assume such things.