A group of Chestermere dentists from Lifepath and Chestermere Station are heading down to Guatemala in March with Dentistry for All to provide oral care to kids who aren’t normally able to access dental care.
Dentists, Jed Snatic, Ethan Zuker and Genevieve Zuker along with Snatic’s family, Wife Kerry and daughters Bridget, 14 and Madelaine, 12, will be heading down with other Alberta dentists to Rio Dulce and El Remate Guatemala on March 10.
“To be able to help those in need is an absolute honour,” said Ethan Zuker, “I am grateful to be in a position to help in a special way.”
The group decided to join Dentistry for All to help make a difference in kid’s lives on Ethan’s suggestion.
“I always wanted to do it, but never…got around to actually doing it,” said Snatic, “when the opportunity knocked, my wife jumped all over it.”
While they’ll have a little bit of time to acclimate on their arrival, other than about a half day to relax on the first and last day, the trip will have very little in common with a tropical vacation.
The whole group will be putting in long full days of dentistry.
“This one we’re doing a lot of fillings and root canals and some extractions,” said Snatic.
He said that compared to working here in Chestermere, their time in Guatemala will be a lot more work.
Since many of the kids and patients they will see, this is their only dental appointment of the year, the first stop is to see a senior dentist on the trip who triages them and prioritizes treatment.
They then move on to the other dentists such as Snatic and the Zuker’s to receive that procedure.
This is Ethan’s second time going down to help in Guatemala.
“During my first trip I dealt mainly with extractions and treating those with the biggest needs, usually badly abscessed teeth,” he said.
With this assembly line like system of treating patients, Snatic said they could see 30 to 40 patients each per day, a significantly higher number than they see at their practice here in Chestermere.
“These kids are grateful,” said Snatic “you’ve got them out of pain…fixed their tooth.”
He’s been told that despite the long hours this work is unbelievably rewarding.
Unlike many dentist’s offices here in Canada where each dentist chair is in its own room, they will be working in a large open hall with rows of dental chairs.
Last time, Ethan said that he worked in a schoolhouse and an outside amphitheater.
“During this trip, from my understanding, it will be more restorative dentistry, this requires more set up machinery and will be in a performed in a clinic,” he said.
In addition to the work that they do, all the dentists that head down also bring a suitcase full of supplies that they donate or fundraise for.
Snatic said that they will be packing down all the gloves and masks that they’ll need for the trip.
“A lot of guys’ll leave the dental stuff that they bring, like tools or special pliers…just to equip that place for the future so they have a better facility,” he said.
Snatic is really looking forward to the trip and the chance to make a significant impact in people’s lives.
“To actually do something for somebody else that really could help, to use our expertise to help people is a pretty powerful thing,” he said.
Ethan said he is just as excited to go this time as the last time.
“I have not been to this part of Guatemala before but if it is like the other village I visited it will be an amazing experience,” he said.
