COUCH AND HAMMOND DENTISTRY IN Nicaragua Day 1 !!!
Wow! It is hot and humid here!
After long flights on Wednesday, we arrived in Managua, Nicaragua at around 10pm. We loaded a large van full of luggage and dental equipment and headed north to Leon.
Arriving in Managua
An hour and a half later we arrived at the hotel, cranked the A/C, and crashed!
We woke up early this morning and it was still hot! LOL! We picked up an old industrial air compressor and drove another hour northeast to the middle of no-where. After passing many volcanos (some smoking others threatening), goats, horse-drawn carts, cows crossing the road, and many humble “casitas” we arrived at Venga tu Reino orphange. We set up shop, got organized and were ready to go when the air compressor that we rented blew! We tried to fix it ourselves, the local handyman tried to fix it but it was all to no avail. So we made the most of the situation by taking x-rays and doing exams on about 40 kids, placed sealants and did a fabulous dental hygiene presentation with magic tricks and crowd participation that rivaled Vegas!
Dr. Couch teaching the kids how to brush and floss!
One of the cute local girls
We love these kids!
Dr. Hammond placing sealants on Franklin
Dr. Couch treating 9 yr old Anna
Dr. Hammond in the "zone"
Jason Couch with his new girlfriends...
The BYU-Idaho pre-dental students were able to do most of the x-rays and give a lot of the presentation to the kids in Spanish. It was an awesome first day in spite of our compressor problems. We are hopeful that tomorrow’s replacement compressor will come through.
Taking X-Rays and treatment planning
We came back to Leon tired and still hot and met with the Dean of Leon’s Dental School. We were interested to learn that the students here go straight to a 5 year dental program right out of high school. We toured their facility and made some friends there for possible future contact. They offered the use of their facility to us in the future as well. One of their students is going to join us on Saturday.
We’re now going to take a nice cold shower, pump the A/C and hit the sack!
Adios muchachos!
Posted on May 6, 2011, in In Office News, Out of Office News, Travel and tagged 95682 bonding in dentistry, 95682 colored fillings, 95682 cosmetic dental procedures 3m lava crowns, 95682 digital x rays in dentistry, cameron park colored fillings, Cameron Park dentist, cameron park dentistry veneer, cameron park insurance for dentist. Bookmark the permalink. 4 Comments.
Hola Muchachos!
Sounds like an eventful first day! Keep up the great work! We’re all looking forward to seeing and hearing more! Buena suerte!!
Gracias! We’re learning a lot about taking dentistry on the road. We’ve got lots of pictures and video to show everybody when we get back! See you Monday.
Sounds like an amazing trip dispite to compressor issue. Trips like those change the way you think forever. Have an awesome time, look forward to hearing all that you accomplish.
My father used to fly dentists into Mexico. Love your pictures.