Thanks to financial assistance from the Academy of Dentistry International Foundation and sponsorship from Health Volunteers Overseas, ADI Fellow Dr. William Dunn was able to provide clinical instruction to dental intems during a two-week volunteer mission to the Christian Medical College (CMC) and Hospital in Vellore, India, and learned some valuable lessons in improvising techniques when materials are scarce. Dr. Dunn left his home in Panama City, Florida just before the Super Bowl aired on January 31, 1999. After numerous weather delays at each of his connecting cities, and after being re-routed through Frankftirt, Dubai, and Bombay, he arrived in Madras, in Tamil Nadu State of Southern India 48 hours later.

Dr. Anitha George (L) and Dr. William J. Dunn (R) perform Exodontia

Dr. William J. Dunn (C) with his Colleagues and trainees

Dr. William J. Dunn on the "India Lecture Circuit".

Lieutenant Colonel Dunn is an Air Force dental officer stationed at Tyndall Air Force Base in Panama City, Florida. His fondness for "adventure" dentistry stems from his experience as commander of a medical readiness deployment to a remote jungle site in the Republic of Panama, where over 1,000 villagers were given medical, dental, and eye care in austere conditions. The staff slept outside on cots with mosquito netting and were awakened each morning by roosters or bats either pecking at the cots or swooping into the nets. Dr. Dunn was also commander of a Cuban Refugee dental clinic, built in less than a week for the immediate arrival of 2,000 patients who fled Cuba in search of a better life. "Residencies and daily practice taught me lessons about oral diagnosis and technique. Field dentistry and volunteer dentistry teach me lessons about life. These experiences, as difficult as they might seem did not prepare me for India."

Dr. Dunn lost ten pounds in two weeks because he was overly concerned with his strange, new diet. "The sights, sounds, tastes, and smells are unlike anything in the States. I learned how to eat with my right hand. I learned that I use too much hot water at home. I learned that I eat too much at home and still throw away far too much food. I also learned that I am what I have to give to others, not what I have."

Dr. Dunn observed four dental intems and felt that all were highly skilled clinicians whose expertise was in the field of oral medicine, pathology, and oral surgery. He saw more pathology and malignancy in two weeks that he had seen in twelve years of practice, including two years as a resident at a large medical center. The dental intems at CMC routinely diagnose oral cancer, biopsy lesions, remove impactions, treat trauma, interpret medical laboratory results, and practice in the operating room.

The mission's objective was to provide clinical instruction to dental intems, through hands-on demonstration and lecture/slide presentations. The money donated by the ADI Foundation helped procure over 1,000 educational slides, slide carousels, and volumes of printed material including a text of oral pathology. Dr. Dunn trained several medical students who were rotating through the dental clinic and also was invited to speak at the Madras, India Section of the Pierre Fauchard Academy. One of his most memorable moments was working in the operating room with Dr. Rabin Chacko, an Oral

Surgeon at CMC. "I saw how tight the family unit is in India, especially when doing rounds in the evening. The family sleeps on the floor next to the patient's bed. They're always there."

Dr. Dunn and a dental intem, Dr. Anitha George, also treated patients in remote villages as part of CMC's community outreach program. "The villagers weren't too sure what to think of dentistry, never having seen it before. The pressure was on to give dentistry and CMC a good name."

CMC and Hospital provides care to over 2,600 patients a day, much of it free to the most needy. The dental staff is very innovative in their delivery system because the program lacks the funds that are commonly taken for granted in the United States. CMC needs more educational resources, books and manuals, amalgamators, forceps, the fist goes on. They currently have no casting capability, but their use of heat cured acrylics for crown and bridge prosthodontics is conunendable.

The Christian Medical College in Vellore was founded by Dr. Ida Scudder, the daughter of American missionaries in India. As a child growing up in Boston, Ida never wanted to become a missionary because she saw the sacrifice and hardship that her parents had to endure, not to mention the conditions in India. On what she thought was to be her last trip to India to visit her parents, a sequence of events would unfold that would change her life, and ultimately the lives of millions. One night, on three separate occasions, pregnant women in medical distress came to her for help. Ida called for her father, a doctor, but religion would not allow a man to treat women. Ida could not help. All three women died that night. Convinced that God was calling her, Ida vowed to return to India after Medical School to ease the suffering of women and children. Dr. Scudder treated many patients, but her biggest accomplishment was the vision that a Medical School in Vellore, training their own men and especially women, was necessary. She made that vision a reality.

Dr. Scudder would be pleased to know that her proud tradition is being realized each day, that her vision has touched the world, and that each year a few volunteers from the United States should be so fortunate to honor her commitment by voluntary service to the country that called to her a century ago.

For information or donations please contact:

Friends of Vellore
Vellore Christian Medical College Board, Inc.
475 Riverside Drive, Room 243
New York, New York 10115

or e-mail usaboardgvellorecmc.org

William J. Dunn,DDS, FADI,FACD
219 Hugh Thomas Drive
Panama City Florida, 32404

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