R and R Day Two, Life in the "80's" and Final Post

Another day to scuba dive, except this time the visibility was very poor!  Maybe 10-15 feet.  But, my plan was to work on close-up pictures with my underwater camera and flash.  Except......focusing problems with the camera, all 85 photos turned out blurry.  Oh well, strong current to fight during the whole dive, so good exercise.   The photos below are from Gloria's camera.

Lion Fish

A very large lobster.  Our divemaster told us if we touched him he would
personally see to it that we were arrested.

Puffer Fish

Before and after the dive, more food.  (This has got to end when we get home).  A nice walk on the beach in the afternoon, then dinner at Mario's the Italian restaurant here at Halcyon Sandals.

Now the "80's"-----Everything here is in the '80s, the air, the ocean, the pools, the humidity, the clinics we worked in, the open-air restaurants, the rain, the hotel room if the AC isn't turned up, the day, the night. And, I think, it is the '80's year-round.  Seasons are nice!

So, an interesting trip.  I think we provided good dentistry for many people.  As they say, "watching sausage being made" isn't the most pleasant, same with how this program is put together.  But, it has worked for Great Shape! for many years, they continue to get volunteers to join them and their protocols are comfortable for them.  Few suggestions were made.  We wish them the best in the future.

R and R Day One

Dentistry is behind us, now for some rest and relaxation.  Two good dives today.  Visibility of around 40 feet and a nice variety of corals and fish.  Photos and a video below:

Finally, we celebrated our 44th anniversary!

Clinic Day Five and Farewell Dinner

We are back at Marchand School for our final clinic day.  Dr. Wang the Oral Surgeon doing all the extractions, (Gloria did three, secretly), I and Dr. John did fillings.  We had nine chairs going, four for the hygienist, three for Dr. Wang and one each for me and John.

Left to right, the principal of the school who triaged the patients, Kathy and Jodi who checked them out.

Lots of patients, we were told we saw over 625 patients for the week.  Not bad for 7 hygienists and 5 dentists.  Tonight was the 'cry and good-bye'.  A great team effort.  Great volunteers.  Great Shape moves on to Grenada for their next outreach.  We wish them luck.

This is Erica and Sydney, my two assistants.  They tag-teamed depending on the venue.
Both great gals.  They are seniors in college and pre-dent. 
They will be great dentists someday!

Clinic Day Four, Prison Dentist and Plumber

Today we went to the Federal Penitentiary to see our dental patients.  Lots of concrete and barbed wire. Security to get in was minimal, we had our bags checked, went through a TSA style metal detector that was unplugged and a brief patdown.

It is located on the top of a hill with a 360 degree view of the Atlantic Ocean.  Would have been a great location for a hotel.  We were told it holds 900 inmates with only 12 women. We had a short day, getting set up around 9:30 and only working till 2:00 since we had to breakdown the clinic for its transport back to Sandals.

We saw around 15 patients, Gloria did cleanings on half, I pulled teeth on the other half.  Pretty routine.  All the inmates were cordial, some friendly, others, not so much.  My assistant is a 21-year-old pre-dental college student.  I recommended she take her name tag off and keep her mask on, no need to encourage a conversation.  With a patient in the chair, if  I left my operatory to check on Gloria in hers, a guard would step in.

The least cooperative but the most friendly was the one female inmate I saw.  She needed a wisdom tooth out.  Not the easiest in the mouth.  She was a mess while I was giving her anesthetic grabbing my hand once and the syringe once.  THAT'S not allowed.  And I told her so.  She was very nervous and crying.  Once I got the tooth numbed and started to removed it, she, again raised her arm, but this time to grab my knee.  That's OK.  I got the tooth out, and she thanked me for my patience and shook my hand.......

This is Coco, our sterile tech.  I think that is a nickname.  The hair on his head is in four cocoa puffs.   A great guy.

During lunch, I needed to use the guard's bathroom.  When I was ready to flush, nothing happened.  I took the tank lid off and discovered the chain from the rubber flapper was disconnected from both the flapper and the arm attached to the lever.  So, I emptied the tank removed the flapper and chain, and using a maxillary anterior forcep, refashioned the chain to fit both the flapper and lever, Yay, the toilet worked again.  Figured it would be a lot easier than to call maintenance.

Clinic Day Three Dentistry and a Protest

We are back at Anse La Raye, the church where we were at on Monday.  This time I was the only dentist with Gloria and two other hygienists.  First, the leadership of Great Shape!, Inc. decided to sleep in and take the day off!  We all were stupified.  Turns out one of them had a birthday today, so they wanted to celebrate while their 34 volunteers were out working in the four clinics.

But, that forced/allowed us to run our clinic as we wanted.  That is why we had such a great day!  Our most productive day of the week with 39 patients seen, 22 cleanings and I pulled 32 teeth.  A good day, a great team.

Kinda boring pictures today.  This guy is about to have a tooth removed......

Oh, the protest.  I knew last night that we didn't have a curing light for today.  It is the blue light we use to harden our composite/plastic fillings.  Essential to our craft.  I asked last night and this morning for the light.  None appeared.  So, I stood at the entrance to Sandals and told the local lead that I wasn't getting on the bus until she brought me a curing light.  She disappeared and the curing light wasn't delivered.

I held everybody up because no light was brought to me from the storage.  Finally, after 20 minutes she showed up with the light and a rather unprofessional comment and then I got on the bus.  Later in the morning, when I was ready to use the light, it didn't work!  In conversation, discontent continues to grow.  But, we are all professionals and we will carry on.......

Another view of our clinic.  

Clinic Day Two and Eating C.R.A.P.

A different location for Gloria and me today.  Marchand School, only a 15-minute ride from Sandals.  A long story......very short, I did little work today.  Plenty of patients but the supplies and equipment were so sub-par, I was unable to work.

Half of our clinic.  During lunch break so no patients.  8 chairs and 8 fans, can't work without fans.

Our Oral Surgeon kept busy pulling teeth, I was the restorative dentist (fillings).  Bottom line, I waited over two hours for an essential piece of equipment to do fillings, once it arrived, and I started prepping teeth I quickly realized the material they had for me to fill the teeth was not creating a bond with the tooth and the fillings fell out immediately.  So, I was able to watch the wizardry of the Oral Surgeon taking teeth out very quickly, I learned some great techniques to use in the future.

Two things to look at here.  First, the electrical set up taped to a chalkboard.   You can see why we
routinely lose electricity in the afternoon.  Second the sign.  C.R.A.P. stands for, "don't eat Carbonated drinks, Refined sugar, Artificial foods, Processed foods.  I like that.   We sense the kids are reading this, but a good share of the adults are morbidly obese.

So, you ask, how is Sandals.  As I mentioned before, this Sandals is a 3-star.  Good, not great.  At $500 per night per couple, I would not recommend it.  Buffet breakfast is 3-star on a generous day.  The lunch they send out with us is 1-star and the same food for the last two days, but the dinners are 4+-start and very enjoyable.

Octopus for my appetizer.  Not a cross-section but the whole arm.  Not quite what I expected and pretty chewy. 

Dinner fare is an appetizer, main dish, and dessert plus free drinks.  They are really a highlight of our stay here.  Also, there are two sister Sandals resorts within shuttle distance, so you can go restaurant crawling if you want.

Glass outdoor fireplaces scattered about.  Nice to look at but not needed for warmth.

Clinic Day One and Squeaky-Door Crickets

St. Lucia is a beautiful island.  All volcanic, reminds us of Maui.

Breakfast at 7, left Sandals at 7:45 for an hour drive through rush hour traffic (!) to Anse La Raye.  The sleepy, small village we were at yesterday that was exploding with noise and very small costumes.  What a difference a day makes!

When we arrived, the street was full of people waiting to be seen.  We selected 30 or so, the rest will return tomorrow.  Two docs and three hygienists.  I did extractions while Dr. Boo (nickname) did fillings.  A few hiccups that will be corrected as we move on, but overall a successful day.  Below, a 5-second video of me in the foreground and Gloria in the back.  Very hot in the building with a fans blowing and me wearing my 'lucky' hat to keep the sweat from dripping off my head!

Oh, the crickets.  A cacophony of noise all night long.  Crickets by the millions, their high chirping sounds like squeaky hinges.....millions of them.