In His Own Words: Dr. Jump's Mission Trip to the Dominican Republic

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In His Own Words: Dr. Jump's Mission Trip to the Dominican Republic
“As a practicing general dentist for the past 12 years, I’ve had the privilege of caring for many wonderful patients in and around the Newark area. Something which has always been on my bucket list was to take part in a dental mission trip, helping others who otherwise could not afford or who do not have access to dental care. Most dental mission trips are focused on emergency care, either getting patients out of pain or reducing infection. In other words, most treatment on these trips involves removing teeth. While this emergency care is necessary and important, I always had an uneasy feeling about removing teeth for folks without having a long term plan for their dental health. Without access to care, once they lose their teeth, how would these folks chew their food effectively? Would they have digestive or general health problems because of their loss of so many teeth? On January 16-19th of this year, I had the privilege of joining a dental mission team In Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic which was different than most. This program organized by The International Dental Implant Association (which I am a member and Fellow), focused on placing implants where teeth were missing. If the jaws had significant bone loss preventing implant placement, we performed advanced bone grafting procedures to accommodate future implant placement. Over the course of 3 days, along with 30 friends and colleagues from around the world; we treated over 400 patients, providing over $2 million worth of dental care. Those who we treated were so kind and appreciative of the care we were providing. The entire weekend was one of the most rewarding and inspiring events I have ever experienced personally or professionally. I look forward to returning here in future years to continue the good work this great program has already started. “ —Dr. Ben Jump The post In His Own Words: Dr. Jump’s Mission Trip to the Dominican Republic appeared first on Moundbuilders General Dentistry .