Projects

Dental Program History

Since 1999 Joy Degenhardt has been arranging Dental Outreach Programs to provide dental care to children in orphanages, street children centers and in high poverty stricken areas where dental hygiene is almost unknown. It all started with Steve Henley.

Steve Henley’s volunteer work began in 1967 while he was serving with the US Navy in Vietnam. On his first volunteer medical trip a small boat from the Vietnamese Navy carried him into the Rung Saat Special Zone, south of Saigon, to a village on Long Song Island. A medical doctor and some nurses went with him, and he had "volunteered" his Navy dental technician to come and assist him with the dental patients.

Dr. Steven Henley

During his duty time in Vietnam, he continued to volunteer for the Med/CAP teams and completed over fifteen patrols. All of these were along the Mekong delta areas south of Saigon.

He returned to Vietnam after 33 years with the help of Joy Degenhardt and an adoption organization in Ho Chi Minh City. With permission from the Saigon Minister of Labor, they developed a dental clinic in the children’s' orphanage which had 300 children.

In the small health clinic there, Steve moved in some dental equipment, dental supplies, and began treating all 300 students. He gave them cleanings, extractions, and fillings. He had a special program with help from Colgate Company which was to teach the kids how to properly brush and care for their teeth. We lined the children up out on the playground, gave each one a Colgate dental kit (toothbrush and toothpaste) and asked them to brush their teeth. Steve observed and made corrections where needed.

By the time he later returned to Vietnam in 2000, Steve had put together a "mobile dental outfit" which he used in his volunteer dentistry. It was made up of a portable dental unit (TrailDent), an aluminum lounge chair with extended legs, a black bag full of dental instruments, and a box of dental supplies. All of these items can be packed into four suitcases, and he can do dentistry for over two weeks in rural areas.

The mobile dental equipment used in the children’s' orphanage is still in use in Vietnam. There have been several dentists and dental students who have volunteered and used the equipment. They have also brought equipment and supplies with them. There are now three dental colleges in Great Britain that send their graduating students who work in three areas of Vietnam. They use the mobile dental equipment, and have transported it to several areas outside of Saigon.

Since then Steve Henley and Joy Degenhardt have set up an ever improving Dental Volunteer Program. Every year more and more dentists and senior dental students are enquiring into and joining us on these Dental Outreach programs. The areas worked in are Ho Chi Minh City, Ben Tre, An Giang, and Danang. Each volunteer typically works in just one, but occasionally two of these areas, and spends a period of one to two weeks with us.

Up until and including the summer of 2008, we have hosted many volunteers, who together have contributed to the success of several Dental Outreach projects and the treatment of countless patients. Degenhardt Foundation has been working with a number of Universities and Colleges in the UK, and every year receives a large number of 4th year dental students who want to offer their services to give aid to these children while working under the supervision of qualified and experienced dentists.

• Read Dental Volunteer Reports
• Get Involved

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