Answers to commonly asked questions, and some you never thought to ask, about what goes on in your mouth.
Bruce C. McArthur, DDS has been creating gorgeous, healthy smiles since 1982. His office is located in Lakewood, Colorado.
Archive for the ‘Dental Health’ Category
Clinic Over!
| I am writing this while sitting on top of a hill behind the church and clinic. The call it “Mount Zion.” It is about a half hour hike up a very steep trail… Or you can wimp out and ride in the magic bus (our 60′s vintage VW) on a very narrow road. Guess which I did! |
Last case of the week
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He looks better now!
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Team on Mount Zion
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Cooks prepare picnic dinner at top of the hill
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Town of Cascas; note Catholic church in center of town
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Church and clinic in center of picture, taken from top of hill
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We met on top of the hill they call “Mount Zion”. Our fantastic local cooks got there first and boiled water over an open fire for hot chocolate and tea. They made us pita sandwiches, some with pb&j, some large ones stuffed with avocado. The avocados here are really amazing – just super tasty! We also had bananas and tangerines. After dinner they lit the bonfire and we had a few speeches. Then the fun part – a singing contest! They sang some songs for us, then expected some in return. It was lots of fun to hear somewhat familiar songs in a different language!
Watching the sun set over the valley and the lights come on in the little town was really beautiful. A great ending to a great mission experience! |
Cascas at night
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Perrito y Amigos
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Another long day! About the same number of patients… Did I mention the oral cancer case we saw? (I can’t remember if it was yesterday or today!) We also saw a young boy, maybe five or six, with an open cleft palate. We are going to send both of them to the “big city” for advanced treatment.
We used the puppet a lot today. It is “Perrito,” a puppy, but with a full set of human looking teeth. With a great big toothbrush it is a fun teaching tool. An added kick is that he will squirt water when you squeeze a hidden bulb- the kids loved that! Only one full day left! |
Perrito
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Cherryl y Perrito
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More Perrito
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Perrito y Amigos |
Third clinic day in Cascas
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More of the same today… We’ve seen about a hundred dental patients every day. Far fewer extractions this year compared to previous trips; could it be that we are catching up? Still lots of restorative work to be done. We’ve done many front teeth that are very dramatic, but so far I’ve only got pictures of one. We did see one patient who has what looks like oral cancer. We are going to pay for his trip to the “big city” to have dentists there diagnose and treat him. The eyeglasses are very popular! They are being dispensed upstairs by our medical team. I have heard of people leaving very excited, saying “I can read again!” so thank you to all of you who so generously donated 334 pair of glasses!! While I’m saying thank you – thanks so much for all the crayons and coloring books! You see them everywhere around the clinic. The kids love them. We will give out over 300 sets to the Cascas kids. I can’t believe we’ve completed 3 full clinic days! We have to pack up Friday afternoon, so we are slightly over halfway done. More news when I can get it out! |
Dental triage in front of clinic |
Before
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After … But his lip is still numb
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Coloring
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More coloring
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Making friends in Cascas
Brenda has a little amigo |
A local dentist helps out
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The coloring books are a big hit!
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Terry works on a dentist from Trujillo
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