Dentistry across borders

Looking across the church, he could hear her before he could see her. Her radiant laughter came easily from her interaction with a patient, who paralleled her joy in being at this makeshift clinic in a church in Guatemala with pews pushed aside and dental equipment in place.

Even with the countless people he’s helped, this familiar scene remains one of Steven Albright’s fondest memories: watching his wife bask in the simple joy of helping another person.

For the patient in Guatemala, though, the situation can be a stark contrast, as searing hot weather and an unpalatable toothache isn’t the ideal combination.

In some countries, as much as half the national population goes without proper dental care — and that’s nothing to smile about.

This is one of the reasons why Albright, an associate professor at the UW School of Dentistry, has been providing his services to various resource-poor countries throughout the world for almost 30 years.

“When I was in college I wanted to be helpful and useful anywhere,” he explained.

Though he didn’t decide on dentistry as a career path until later in college, the goal of providing care across borders is something Albright has focused on from the start.

But the road from being a college student growing up in Wisconsin to becoming a dentist earning accolades for outstanding humanitarian efforts wasn’t smooth or simple.

“Dental school is a challenge because it’s very intense and requires being a perfectionist and having an obsessive sort of attention to detail,” Albright said.

It’s this trait he hopes all dentists and dental students share — to provide a standard of excellence.

Though quite some time has passed since he settled into the field of dentistry, that standard hasn’t changed. It continues to be an obstacle today.

Fourth-year dental student Kirk Skidmore, can attest to that fact.

“There are a bunch of hoops and stumbling blocks along the way. It takes a lot of time studying and getting involved in the community,” Skidmore said.

But their time and energy hasn’t been wasted, since both said they have found that the reward to the hypothetical (though sometimes actual) blood, sweat and tears that go into becoming a dentist makes the career choice more than worth it.

In the United States, visiting the dentist can be a child’s worst nightmare, but in the small village of San Gabriel, Guatemala, paying for dental care is a rare luxury many families can’t afford. So when Albright and Skidmore went to the village on their most recent trip — sponsored by the nonprofit organization Hands of Love — complete with a medical and pharmaceutical team this spring, people lined up like they were going to see Santa Claus.

“There was a line just snaking around the building a few times,” Skidmore recalled. “Just the amount of dentistry we were able to do was pretty memorable.”

Even though the team worked long hours with very few breaks during the day to help as many people as they could, there were select patients who stood out and made the trip all the more worthwhile.

On Albright’s desk sits a picture of a little girl from that Guatemala trip, who came for four different visits in the 10 days that he was there.

“Each time she came she was fearful and a little worried, but she let me work, and each time we would work on a different quarter of her mouth,” he explained. “During the daytime she wasn’t really thrilled to be there, but when we went to see her at night after it was all done, she was happy and all smiles; just very appreciative.”

For Skidmore, performing countless fillings and extractions for the people in need provided a sense of satisfaction.

“The best part is just being able to provide a service for people that they can’t do themselves,” he said.

Though his career is only beginning, Skidmore has already come a long way since his first experience with an extraction that caused him to seriously question his career choice.

“While in the emergency dental clinic when I was volunteering, during one of the first tooth extractions that I was assisting on, I got a little bit light-headed and I thought, ‘Oh boy, maybe this isn’t for me.’ I went home that night going, ‘Oh gosh, maybe I should think of a different field,’” he remembered. “I thought I would finish it off and see how it goes. Since then, though, I’ve just been so thankful that it’s all worked out, because I actually really like it now and I look forward to opportunities to really get some surgical experience.”

For Albright, who has had more than three decades of experience in the field, he couldn’t imagine doing anything else. In fact, he doesn’t even have plans for retirement.

“I would just continue to do the same things,” he said. “I’m very happy and I’m very blessed to be in a spot where I help people, make a difference in people’s lives and encourage people.”

Skidmore has the same ideals in mind.

“I’ll work until I can no longer work or my back gives out,” he said. “One of the two.”