With its high rates of unemployment, illiteracy and poverty, Nicaragua is one of the poorest countries in Central America. Last year, at the urging of Aura Caldera, Class of 2008—whose family is from Nicaragua—NYUCD conducted its first Nicaraguan outreach to provide screenings and treatment for children and adults in the rural village of Chiquilistagua. Because of the extraordinary need for dental care that they found, members of that outreach—together with new team members from the Advanced Education Program in Endodontics and the College of Nursing— returned in March to Chiquilistagua, home to more than 11,000 inhabitants, but no local dentist.

In addition to DDS students, an international program student, pediatric and oral surgery residents, and general dentistry and pediatric dentistry faculty and staff, the team included six postgraduate endodontic residents; two nursing students, one endodontic faculty member; and one nursing faculty member—35 people in all.

The team set up a temporary clinic at the Centro Escolar de Chiquilistagua, a small school in Chiquilistagua, where a total of 751 patients were seen and 1,828 treatments were provided over a one–week period. Services included 25 prophies, 152 fluoride varnishes, 557 sealants, 351 restorations, 364 extractions, 57 post and/or core build–ups and 266 X–rays. In addition, almost 100 teeth were endodontically treated and saved; local school children and their teachers attended hygiene awareness presentations; and a fluoride and sealant program was initiated.

"We are trying to expand from a traditional outreach focus on oral disease prevention and health promotion to encompass both more complex dental care and general health and well–being," said Dr. Stuart M. Hirsch, Associate Dean for International Affairs and Development. "The addition of both nurses and endodontists allowed us to do this and greatly enhanced the program’s impact. The nurses improved upon the triage area by examining each patient, providing treatments for specific healthcare needs, expanding health education and processing patients through the clinic."

Another team member, Dr. Paul Rosenberg, Professor and Chair of the Ignatius N. and Sally Quartararo Department of Endodontics, called it "an extraordinary opportunity for our residents to become sensitized to the needs of the underserved in other, far less affluent, countries. The visit was a profound, moving experience for all of us. Hours of hard work in difficult conditions, but highly productive and satisfying for the heart and soul."