Academy Examiner

THE ACADEMY OF LDS DENTISTS NEWSLETTER SuMMER 2012 Presidents message

At the end of our annual conference, as we transition to our next Academy president, Dr. Evan Roundy, I must say what a pleasure it has been to work with him and the other great leaders on our executive committee team. We feel like we have seen much growth in the Academy for many reasons. One real blessing was to have Scott Harris (program administrator at BYU Conferences and Workshops) join us on the executive committee. You probably have noticed the quality of the August conferences and the publications that their group has helped with. Our part-time executive director has helped to coordinate and develop the newsletters, the monthly e-mailed Academy Headlines, and our Facebook page. He has taken on much of the daily communiqus and follow-up, which has enhanced the efficiency of our organization. We have seen continued growth in the areas of education, service, and fellowship. Our annual conference continues to be one of the greatest values in postgraduate education, along with the complete family experience that includes programs for our spouses and children. Many times our clinicians comment that it is one of the most unique settings, formats, and CE experiences they have attended. A few of them have come back on their own, even bringing their spouses, just to experience the feeling of camaraderie and service that they observed while here with us. Our humanitarian service continues to expand to more areas of the world, where many of you have made a difference by providing dental service and sharing the principles of our culture along the way. After hearing our Saturday luncheon presentations on service, some of our guest clinicians have told us they would really like to participate in some of those projects when their schedule allows. A couple of them have even given us their PowerPoint presentations (allowing us to translate it if necessary) so our members and dental missionaries can use it to teach the foreign groups they are asked to instruct. We hope the friendships you have developed over the years have been enhanced as you have participated in our CE conference or gone on one of the service expeditions with some of your new friends. In this issue, we are including a short report from a few of the groups that have been actively performing humanitarian dental service in various areas. Many more will be shared at our conference. Our dues, as well as any residual revenues from the annual conference, are used to help in various humanitarian service projects. Even though dues-paying members do have discounted fees for our August conference, please dont think that you only should pay the dues if you are able to attend. Besides helping to pay for humanitarian service needs, the dues help provide scholarships for some of our student members. At the August conference, please see our special table display about the scholarships you have helped facilitate with your dues payment. Over the past three years, we have had Academy student chapters formed in 37 dental schools. Being a registered student member allows an LDS dental student to apply for one of the scholarships we offer to dental and hygiene students. You have probably all received a copy of our conference brochure. It was designed to share information about the great programs we have planned for the dentists, their spouses and their children. Please invite some of your dental friends to attend the conference with you. It would enhance your enjoyment of the experience and introduce them to one of the most unique and beneficial events in dentistry. Hope to see you there,

201012 academy council

John A. Gerritsen, DDS 20102012 President Academy of LDS Dentists
President: John A. Gerritsen Vice President: Evan Roundy Secretary/Treasurer: Laurence Palmer Past President: David Geddes Founder: Gordon Christensen

HumAnitAriAn SErvicE opportunitiES

same cities will be held again next year (May 2013), possibly with the addition of Guilin. The model we use is to find a private dental clinic or hospital with 1530 dental operatories. We arrange to use six of those units to work on indigents in the city, mostly children ages 818 (many are orphans) and the elderly from retirement homes. Cleft palate patients are nearly always infants. We negotiate to use their facilities for free. What they get in return are a large amount of leftover donated dental supplies and the opportunity to exchange treatment methods and ideas with their American counterparts. Our clinicians generally give seminars to local dentists. While there, we usually also take supplies and cash to orphanages and institutions for the handicapped. We have always been warmly received and strongly welcomed Dr. Eric Anderton teaching at chairside to return. In our luggage, we took well over 1,000 oral hygiene kits; thousands of dollars worth of dental supplies; toys for children; and blankets, caps, and clothes for orphans of all ages. It is not required for participants to speak Chinese, but many do. Mandarin-speaking LDS returned-missionary dentists have gone, along with non-LDS Mandarinspeaking dentists. Many participants have been on these trips multiple times. Some who are new to the Chinese language have learned to speak enough Chinese to be fluent at chairside and in other situations. This year we had a waiting list of dentists who wanted to go. At the end of the trips there were two days of sightseeing, one group going to Beijing (Great Wall, Forbidden City, etc.) and one group to Guilin. The total cost for this experience is about $2,100 per person, not including visa and immunizations.

Li River in Guilin

Break Time

CHINA
By Dr. Karl Koerner, the Academys Area Service Coordinator for China/Asia
mailto: karlrkoerner@comcast.net In April this year, two humanitarian projects in China were led by members of the Academy of LDS Dentists. They were held during the same period of time (April 2030), included about the same number of people (1820), and were similar in the type of dental work that was done. Many hundreds of dental procedures were performed, along with participating in other activities as mentioned below. The type of dental work performed ran the gamutrestorative, oral surgery, biopsy, endodontics, scaling and root planing, and oral hygiene instruction. We also scheduled time to go to local high schools and universities to speak to students on dentistry and oral hygiene. In Xian, participants had a chance to work with about 50 handicapped orphans in the Starfish Foster Home run by Amanda Delange, an LDS Church member from South Africa. Xian is a city in the center of China with a population of about 8 million and is home to Dr. Yin Hsu from Boston doing triage the Terracotta Warriors. The other trip was to a small town called Suqian, closer to Shanghai and Nanjing. Each group consisted of eight dentists, two hygienists, and other support personnel. The group in Suqian included a plastic surgeon who did cleft lip and palate repair. We have been to Suqian three other times and to Xian once before. Dr. Delmar Gray of Boise, Idaho, and Dr. James Shu, an LDS prosthodontist who practices in Beijing, China, led the trip to Xian. Dr. Karl Koerner from Draper, Utah, and Dr. Scott Stucki from St. George, Utah, led the one to Suqian. It is likely that trips to these

samoa
By Roger and Julie Roth, service volunteers: dentist and hygienist
mailto: JulCottage@aol.com We love it here! I graduated from dental school in 1972, and my wife, Julie, from dental hygiene school in 1971, so we are both in our fourth decade of dentistry. We are called as service volunteers in Samoa and not set apart as missionaries. We have enjoyed our dental careers, but our experience here has far exceeded in satisfaction and enjoyment anything we have previously experienced. It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known (Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities). This is how we feel! There are other LDS dentists from our area who are interested in coming here, and there is room for anyone who is interested. Just coordinate with Dr. Wayne Chisholm (e-mail: mailto:wchisholm@ live.com). We love it here so much; they may need to bury us here! Christina Robbins, BSDH, from Ogden, Utah, came in June for two weeks. Providing cleanings and education, in our opinion, is one of the biggest needs the people here have. We need more hygienists. Most adult patients have accumulated a lifetime buildup of calculus (we call it coral here) and moderate to severe periodontal disease. They have not been taught about oral hygiene or the effects of neglecting their teeth and gums. When we discuss it, they are amazed at the information and excited to try to change the condition of their mouths. Habits are hard to break or begin, but it is a move in the right direction. There is so much potential to do some good here. We do exams, cleanings, restorative, extractions, endo (mostly anterior and bicuspids) and some interim partials or flippers (which usually turn out to be permanent!). We have four or five Samoan

Spending time with severely autistic children

HumAnitAriAn SErvicE opportunitiES

volunteers, who are indispensible help as assistants at the clinic. They translate when needed and help us enjoy the culture of the country as well. Julie and I have come with the attitude of only looking for the good, and we have found it beyond measure. We have portable dental equipment to take to adjacent islands, where little dental care is available. We assisted the Public Affairs missionaries as they proAssisted with DVD duced a DVD on oral produced by LDS Public Affairs missionaries health and good dental nutrition in Samoan and English, which will be presented to the Minister of Health by President Hamula, the Area President. We have worked hard to have a good relationship with the few Samoan dentists at the National Hospital by meeting with them weekly. I think we have achieved that. The patients are wonderful! We have treated many, from the poorest economically to the highest of government officials. The people are grateful and appreciative. They have no attitude of entitlement, but do have very high pain thresholds. Most small children, gums swollen and in pain, never cry when I anesthetize them and remove an abscessed tooth or teeth. Many hug us after the procedure. We see a steady stream of pre-missionaries in preparation for the submission of their papers. We have treated and cared for many of the young missionaries, the senior missionaries, and temple workers serving here. So many non-LDS people have been served as well and are indeed grateful to be able to utilize such a wonderful facility without the worry of payment. The Church experience is phenomenal. President Leota refers to the other islands as the other side of heaven, and Samoa as heaven. We have been able to participate in the English-speaking ward and enjoy frequent sessions in the Samoan Temple. Many of the General Authorities pass through Apia and often take time to visit the clinic or contact us. We sense from them that they feel the work being done at the clinic is truly helping the missionary efforts here in Samoa. I hope you feel our love for Samoa and our Heavenly Fathers children here. This experience is changing our lives, and we are so grateful to be here. Of interest on this screening day, the policewoman guarding the door was a delightful active LDS Church member, a single parent herself, struggling with how she was going to get her son and daughter ready to serve missions. We gave her our card and will be facilitating all the dental care for them in the next few months. Just another one of the countless little miracles we see daily. Municipalidad Las Rosas, serving girls 714. Again we found tremendous need, and more so as this age has permanent teeth that are being lost Inquisitive young girls to decay. Rapid intervention will be the key to success with these kids. So far in the office they have done well. They have been receptive to care and on time with their appointments. They send a teacher who has been a great help. Municipalidad Los Cedros, boys age 714. These children too were more reserved, but they still responded to well to some One-on-one time private chats. Well start care on them with the same concerns about losing permanent teeth. Between the three new programs, weve added about 540 new children to our care program. We expect to have most of the crisis care done in the next three months, then basic restorative care. Eventually we will maintain them on regular recall visits to keep them healthy. Elder/Dr. Wayne Wilcox and Sister DeeDee Wilcox have recently arrived at our clinic. They will be a real benefit to us here. In summary: As always, we feel highly productive in our callings and feel we are moving the work forward with each full-time missionary or future missionary we see. We feel the Lords hand on ours daily, and have come to trust those quiet feelings that prompt us to take certain X-rays or follow up on certain tests. It is a recurring witness of the validity of this work.
Working with 2 of our 540 new children

Sister AnnaLee Johnson at the First Day of Screening

guatemala dental clinic

By Elders Rich and LeeAnn Call, Richard and AnnaLee Johnson
mailto:call_rich@msn.com

Expansion of orphanage childcare program

While the additional three programs for children are not technically orphanages, they are for the children of single parents. The parent has to work, and the children are left homeless on the streets of Guatemala. The program is under the patronage of the Alcalde Arzu and his wife, and includes the following three programs: Municipalidad Los Patitos, for ages 27. These were the most loving children of the three we started screening. Their response to Getting down to their level Sister Johnson on the first day of screening when she knelt to meet them was overwhelming. They just engulfed her with their love. When we started the screening, they were a little more reserved. So we started again at their level and immediately had them exploring our special glasses and responding to our questions about who brought their teeth with them to school today and where were they keeping them, and are they cleaning them all every dayand all the other inane techniques we use to entertain children in the dental setting. Unfortunately we found tremendous need, with all the teeth of some three-year-olds destroyed to the gumline with decay. Our plan, in addition to providing emergency care and the restorative care to all 220 from this program, is to host a dental education program with one of our Guatemalan volunteer dentists and then implement a fluoride varnish program with donations Ive requested from my former supplier in Denver. My son Dave brought 700 treatments on June 13, and I bought another 1,500 toothbrushes for the occasion.

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augus t 2012
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Mark your calendars now to attend the 35th Annual Dental Conference of the Academy of LDS Dentists, August 10-11, 2012, at the Brigham Young University Conference Center in Provo, Utah.

Academy Examiner
35th Annual Academy of LDS Dentists Annual Conference
This conference is ideal for Dental Specialists and all dental professionals. Camaraderie, programs for the entire family, professionals with similar values its a great value. The information is up to datean excellent format where participants can receive 14 CE hours from an approved PACE program provider through the Academy of General Dentistry. John A. Gerritsen, Academy President We want to send you our monthly electronic newsletter, Academy Headlines. To do so, we need your current e-mail address if we dont have it already. Please go to the web page and click on Join, then Update Your Info. Your e-mail address will not be shared with anyone else.

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Visit the academys updated website for valuable resources: Annual conference information and registration Dental student resources Classified ads: Buy/sell a practice Associate/partner opportunities News, recent and archived newsletters Membership dues renewal Humanitarian service opportunities Other valuable items

sPeakers and toPics: Friday, August 10, 2012 Gary Takacs, Takacs Consulting (Practice Management) Samuel B. Low, DDS, MS, MEd (Periodontics and Implants) Terence E. Donovan, DDS (Fixed and Removable Prosthodontics)

Saturday, August 11, 2012 Jeffrey P. Okeson, DMD (Occlusion) Charles Blair, DDS (Insurance and Coding with Confidence) Peter L. Jacobsen, PhD, DDS (Pharmacology) Gordon J. Christensen, DDS, MSD, PhD (Whats New2012) Additional Optional Session: Providing Service in Developing Countries Well see you there!

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