Eye Exams for the Residents of La Entrada

The eye team is finalizing its plans for the summer trip. Each year the eye team provides free eye examinations to residents of La Entrada. Last year over 900 exams were performed and 10 patients were treated for cataracts. No Spanish language skills or special training is required. Call Bob Cramp for more information at 908-766-2752 or write to him at robert.cramp@verizon.net.

Setting up the Dental Clinic

As I said in the previous post, the new room for the dental clinic should be completed well before the dental team arrives in July. In past years, it has generally taken us three days to set up the clinic and prepare for the team’s arrival.

We store the dental chairs, tools, cabinetry, X-ray, piping, compressors, generators, etc. across campus in the bodega. (The new dental clinic is situated adjacent to the bodega.)

Moving the equipment from storage is a time consuming process under the best of circumstances. It takes the combined effort of four men to lift and move each chair.

The children help wherever and whenever they can. They move the lighter dental tools and ancillary equipment. Having their help speeds up the work, but more importantly, it gives us a chance to spend some time with them; something we all enjoy.

Setting the chairs in place, running the piping, and attaching the services requires a level of expertise, so the grunt work is only part of the effort.

Everything has to be washed down and cleaned before the dentists and technicians arrive to set out their tools and set up their work space. Again, the children take an active role in preparing the clinic for the next day’s work.

- Arnie Edelstein

Dental Clinic Update

As many of you know, we’re in the process of adding a new dental clinic/meeting room onto the existing building, which now houses the classroom/eye clinic and bodega.

The room is coming along nicely and it should be completed within the next four to six weeks. The new room will be used for the dental clinic during mission trips and for a classroom and meeting space during the balance of the year. Happily, it will be far easier to set up the dental lab than it has been in the past, since we will now have permanent plumbing and electrical service embedded in the floor. The room will also have a drop ceiling, good lighting, and fans for ventilation.

The room overlooks the soccer field and play area, so we expect the view through the large windows to be a pleasant one.

In the photo below, you can see the general layout for the room and the access boxes that house the services for eight dental chairs and utility sink (air, suction, water, electricity, drainage). The boxes are temporarily covered with heavy blue plastic sheathing to protect the cavities fom cement and dirt while the cement floor is poured and tile floor is set.

Many thanks to Doug Liguori, Mike Koppes, Bill Rutar, and Lenny Lenz for their efforts and to Don Hibbard for his vision. The new dental lab is a great addition to the campus and will surely get much use.