DT News - Canada - William Rodriguez, DDS, and Joyce Rodriguez: Doing well by doing good

Robert Selleck, Dental Tribune Canada

Tue. 4 March 2014

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MISSISSAUGA, CANADA: It’s not unusual for dentists on service missions to encounter transportation challenges. That’s often the point: Deliver needed dental care to difficult-to-reach locations. Mississauga dentist William Rodriguez, DDS, encountered such conditions on his “Smiles from the Heart” mission earlier this year in the Philippines. Rodriguez and his wife, Joyce, working with a local contact, organized the trip.

Also participating were five Filipino dentists, putting the total team at eight members. The destination: Batan and Sabtang islands in the nation’s northernmost island group.

Getting to Batan (not to be confused with the infamous Bataan Peninsula) was easy enough, even with a seven-hour flight delay out of Manila. The team set up in Basco, the island’s main town, and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. treated 49 patients, many from surrounding communities. Rodriguez mainly performed extractions, but was able to do some restorative work, too.

Then came the challenge: Sabtang Island lies where the Pacific Ocean meets the South China Sea. Turbulent seas are status quo, and in the afternoon, the waves rage. The team wanted to put in another full day, but their boatman said wave conditions required returning shortly after noon at the latest.

The team treated 43 patients in four hours, mostly restorative work on young students, with whom they wanted to do everything possible to avoid extractions. Noon arrived quickly.

“It was a mad rush to finish and get to the boat on time — and certainly a scary ride to get back to the mainland,” Rodriguez said. “But the smiles from these patients and the gratitude from the local dentists and town officials indicated that the mission was very much appreciated.”

William and Joyce are now planning a return trip to the other sides of the islands, which are not accessed by public-health dentists because of — of course — transportation challenges.

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