MAF mobilised a team of dentists to run an outreach clinic in the isolated community of Tapeta in Liberia’s Nimba county, which usually has no access to dental care.
Story by Kathy Burrows
In just four and a half days, a team from Trinity Dental Clinic in Liberia performed over 350 tooth extractions and several surgical procedures after flying with MAF to a remote community.
“Due to the severe shortage of qualified dentists in Liberia, there is no option but to travel a great distance for dental treatment, which few can do or even afford,” says Ed Burrows, one of the MAF pilots who flew the team from the capital Monrovia to Tapeta in the east of the country.
With a population of around 4 million and only a handful of qualified dentists, most being in the capital, accessing dental care can feel almost impossible in Liberia. As a result, many people ignore preventable dental problems, some of which can have lasting consequences.
Dentist and outreach coordinator, Daniel J Kaiuway, shared one particular complex surgery that was performed during the outreach on a man who had been suffering from a serious bone infection in his mouth.
“A patient came to us with a very acute case of osteomyelitis where half of his mandible [jawbone] had been destroyed,” says Daniel. “With the help of Dr Renju we removed lots of spoiled teeth and bone and gave him antibiotics. As there is no dentist here, we have asked the health clinic to do the follow up and check on him weekly.”
Sadly, cases like this are not uncommon in Liberia and highlight the need for more trained dental workers. For this reason, in 2022, Trinity Dental Clinic launched a dental therapy training school in Monrovia. One of their students, Moses Jarfimah, who was assisting on the trip, plans to return to Tapeta to serve as a dental therapist
MAF has helped us to go to that very remote area.
“When I come back, I can review the patients and do any follow up treatments,” says Moses. “My prayer is that I can get the support to be able to work here.”
Despite the limitations and challenges of working in such a remote area, the team were pleased with what they were able to achieve for so many who would otherwise have to travel up to 12 hours by dirt road to reach help.
“MAF has helped us to go to that very remote area. We were able to help over 150 people during the week,” says dentist Dr Renju Kunjumon. “Thank you MAF so much for all the work and support you have done. This has been a blessing for the entire village over there.”
This is the second time MAF has partnered with Trinity Dental Clinic to offer dental services to those living in isolated communities, previously working in the south of Libera but this time reaching up to Nimba county in the northeast. The hope is that they will continue expanding into other areas of the country in the future.
“We are so pleased that MAF can enable these mobile clinics to reach those in need,” says Ed.