Servicemembers provide dental training for Afghans

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Tammie Moore
  • U.S. Air Forces Central news team
QALAT, Afghanistan (AFNS) --  Members of the Zabul Provincial Reconstruction Team united with U.S. Public Health Service officials to offer an emergency dental care certification course to Afghan dental professionals from the province in October.

In Zabul, Afghanistan's poorest province, many people are forced to either provide for their family's immediate needs or pay for preventative medical care, and unfortunately, many Afghans have never seen a dentist.

"Dental disease is the most common disease in the world today," said Capt. (Dr.) Charles Craft, a dentist with the U.S. Public Health Service. "The World Health Organization has stated that there are 6 billion people in the world and 5.2 billion people who have dental disease. For most Americans, it is not a problem. But for most of the developing world, if you have a severe toothache, you are not going to be able to sleep; you are not going to be able to eat; you are not going to be able to concentrate; and that affects the quality of your life."

Officials launched the five-week emergency dental care course here to enhance the skills of four area non-governmental organization dental professionals. It provided them with the ability to establish free field clinics, complete with infection control standards in place, to offer emergency extractions and routine cleanings.

"We put them through pretty fast training, but they already had a background in dentistry," Captain Craft said. "It was just a matter of showing them a few different techniques, emphasizing infection control, patient care, organization and professional set up. They picked it up quickly. That is the advantage of this type of training. It is something that can be easily taught, easily learned and easily reproduced after we are done, so it is an exciting program."

Captain Craft said he believes the training will translate into Afghan residents receiving better treatment than they have had in the past.

"It is important to bring this here because the villagers rarely receive dental care, and when they do, it is not always up to the same standards as in the U.S.," said Staff Sgt. Nestor Albalos, a PRT member and combat medic. "It is not uncommon for a root to be broken off and left in the gum when a tooth is pulled out, which can cause infection. This training will teach them the proper techniques to avoid that."

As part of the course, students set up a series of free clinics providing emergency care to villagers. The exercise was not only designed to provide students hands-on experience in field, but also to provide them with the skills and knowledge to establish a clinic.

The clinics are very low tech, but have high standards, Captain Craft said. Although the services offered at the clinics are extremely limited it provided Captain Craft a chance to focus on areas of care he believes need improvement.

Because so many residents have rarely seen dentists, Captain Craft stressed the importance of patient interaction.

"I would say a vast majority (of our patients) have never been to the dentist and those who have, received some emergency extractions (without necessary) pain control, infection control or proper medications," Captain Craft said. "That is one of the reasons they are apprehensive, and they have a sense of fear of the health care system here.

"When this team utilizes the proper national standards, we have already seen the people gain confidence quickly," he said. "So those obstacles can be overcome very easily, and I think we are going to be very successful in the future. We are treating the patient as well as the tooth."

Sharing his knowledge with doctors in less-developed areas isn't new to Captain Craft, who has worked in the Cambodian Embassy for the past eight years. He's learned to overcome common obstacles, which has made his impact here even stronger.

"Whenever you work in a foreign country, I think language and culture is an obstacle to overcome," he said. "We have been able to have a very dedicated Afghan dentist to work with, so those challenges were easily overcome."

Throughout the course, students saw patients, and Dr. Mohammed Ahmed, a dental course student, noticed how pleased they were.

"They are very happy," he said. "This is a very good program."

Under an agreement with the non-governmental organization, the course graduates will continue to provide free dental care to Afghan citizens.

"We expect this team will go out to areas where even the coalition can't go and will be able to provide this dental care (twice a month) long into the future," Captain Craft said.

"The fact that Afghans, themselves, will be able to do it means that they will not be relying on the U.S. or coalition forces," he said

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