ATSU-ASDOH provides care in rural Guatemala
Posted: November 5, 2014
Rebecca Schaffer, DDS, adjunct professor, Advanced Care Clinic, ATSU-ASDOH, recently participated in an outreach for individuals with special needs in Peronia, Guatemala through a partnership with the Open Wide Foundation and in conjunction with the Special Care Dentistry Association. Open Wide Foundation’s mission is to bring health and hope to communities in need—especially in the developing world.
Accompanying Dr. Schaffer were Sarah Usher, DMD ’14 and her husband Dustin Usher who works in ITS at ATSU, as well as Dr. Denise Frances, a former ATSU-ASDOH faculty member.
Open Wide sponsored their first Special Needs Week in the Peronia clinic Sept. 22-25. Dr. Schaffer and others were part of a team of U.S. & Canadian specialist volunteers who treated 87 patients performing 351 procedures; each one needing special accommodations due to their severe mental or physical disabilities such as autism, hemophilia, down syndrome and cerebral palsy. None of the patients who received treatment had ever seen a dentist.