The residence of Tekera now have basic
dental services. At the moment, the clinic can only do extractions and minor fillings since there
are no drills. Before April 2008, patients had no alternative but to
travel to Masaka, over 15 km away and there is no
public transport. During the year, word has spread to
neighbouring communities that there is a
dentist at the Centre every Wednesday. Each week, the dentist sees at
least 16 - 30 patients.
This all began in April 2008
when a Canadian, John Innis, volunteered to set up a clinic and with the
sponsorship of the Chilliwack Rotary Club, brought enough equipment and
drugs to start assisting people. Our current dentist, Eron Jjunju
continued what John started. With additional donations, we purchased
more drugs and extractors plus a pressure cooker to sterilize the dental
tools.
Currently, patients are
charged a very low fee of 4,000/= ($1.50) for every extraction or
filling. This includes the freezing. The government dental clinic in Masaka charges
4,000/= per extraction. Drugs required after an
extraction is billed separately and can be paid with cash or pesos.
Like most developing
nations, dental care is a serious problem and service is very limited to
those outside major towns and cities. Eventually, we hope to obtain the
necessary equipment to do fillings and cleaning for the people in the
rural area.
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