One of the advocacies of the Foundation is to provide dental equipment to improve access to dental care in underserved villages in the Philippines. On most occasions, they rely heavily on their local contacts to identify these areas.
One such area identified needing help is Magallanes, Sorsogon. The information was provided by the Rural Health Physician, Dr. Neil B. Gavino Jr. Incidentally, Dr. Gavino was a scholar of the Foundation. He was the first physician whose medical school education was in part supported by the Foundation.
Magallanes is a second-class municipality composed of 34 barangays (Villages). As of the latest census conducted in 2020, the population is almost 38,000. The primary health care of the people of municipality is provided by a doctor at a Rural Health Unit (RHU)
Dentistry is part of the RHU. But, as in most municipal rural health units, it is always on the back burner, so to speak. The present dental clinic for the municipality where free dental care is provided is on one small corner of the RHU.
Information from the lone dentist indicates that it sorely lacks the proper equipment to do most phases of dentistry. Therefore, the predominant procedure done is extraction of teeth and occasional oral prophylaxis. In fact, the dental clinic has no sterilizer for its sole use. It shares the sterilizer of the Birthing Center located on the same building. Further, it does not have enough forceps for the average of 20 patients a day seen by the dentist.
When Dr. Gavino took over as the Rural Health Physician, his primary goal was to enhance the overall health of the people in the municipality. This includes among others, the improvement of the dental clinic. He immediately spoke to the Foundation regarding the possibility of helping his program.
Knowing him personally, the Foundation did not hesitate to help. The timing could not have been any better. The municipality is renovating the RHU building to improve its services. With Dr. Gavino’s input and the whole-hearted support of the Municipal Mayor, Maria Elena Ramona Ragragio, the plan was set into motion. The Foundation provided a floor plan. This was subsequently reviewed by the Municipal Engineer’s Office and eventually approved by the Mayor. Then, and was incorporated in work plans of the RHU building being renovated.
The construction is presently on going and before the end of the year, the Foundation envisions delivering the equipment to the RHU Dental Clinic.
Part of the equipment being donated, aside from the dental chair and unit, is a steam and pressure driven sterilizer, a computer supported digital x-ray system and a several sets of hand instruments. Some start up dental supplies will also be given to allow the dentists to do most phases of dentistry.
The Dentistry for Every Village Foundation, Inc., raises funds by seeking grants and donations to build dental clinics. These clinics are donated to health care institutions that have the resources to house the facility, experiences and expertise to run them efficiently, and whose management is supportive of the cause.
