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Dental care for the community
Dental Health Care Ministry
In 1997, the mercy ministry of Eirene began
with it's first formal outreach.
The community of Santa Ana was in immed-
iate need of dental services, therefore it
was decided that the dental health care
service would be established.
History
Initially, a dental health care service was
provided for two days each week in a
facility in the neighboring community of
Bugambilias; not far from Santa Ana.
However, there became such a demand for
dental health services, an official ministry
needed to be established.
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It was then decided that a new place had to be found in Santa Ana in order to be closer to
the community. Dental care was to be provided every day of the week. A small building was
then purchased in Santa Ana in 1998 and volunteer summer groups, from the United States,
helped complete its construction, establishing our first place in Santa Ana for the dental
care ministry.
The need for Dental Health Care Ministry
The biggest problem faced is the lack of education in nutrition and in personal hygiene. Although there are dental problems in almost every person in the community, most refuse to show up to the dentist until they have an infection in their mouth or are in serious pain. There is a general lack of understanding in how dental health relates to the overal health of the body
There are many needs in Santa Ana that vary from family to family. Not only the need for quality education, but also health and dietary needs. Drugs and alcohol present great problems for many of these families. There are many single mothers and young women who become pregnant and have many children by the time they reach their twenties. They do not have the necessary financial resources to take care of their dental needs.
"Partner with Eirene today as a "Support Member", working together in the
mission to change lives and transform communities in Guadalajara, Mexico".
Ministry vision
The dental health care ministry of Eirene has reached out to the underdeveloped communities of Guadalajara by providing an affordable dental clinic service. As an outreach effort, our program offers free dental clinic services. As a result, volunteer dentists and dental assistants have come from the United States and other countries to help.
There continues to be a huge demand and an ongoing increase in the amount of people who need the service; especially when the service is provided to them free of cost. In one, four-day clinic outreach, we saw 300 dental patients!
The vision for the ministry includes reaching more individuals in Santa Ana and providing mobile dental services to surrounding communities where there are no dental offices. We also want to offer our services to foster care homes, schools and other service institutions to provide for the needs of their children free of charge.
Please join us as a support member and support this ministry directly. If you are a dentist, you are encouraged to visit and volunteer short term.
New ministry developments
A new clinic facility was built in 2006 and is located at the same facility as our offices and education center. More recently, in early 2009 a new mobile dental unit was donated from the United States which included which will hopefully arrive in the fall of 2009. This will allow us to reach out to the communities around Santa Ana with the proper equipment.
Magda Barreto, has been in charge of the dental clinic and ministry, and has helped to see to its developing and growing over the past seven years.
The most commonly treated problems are decaying teeth, cavities, and teeth that have been stained from drinking water containing large amounts of minerals. Some of these visits are routine and there are others where patients are operated on for four hours or more.
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Magda's vision for the ministry
People come to me because we charge a very minimal amount at the clinic. They are barely able to put together enough money to pay for a simple extraction. It is very sad. It would be great if we could help this community more so that they do not lose their teeth so young. If we had more financial support, we could better serve the community
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We could provide more education in dental health and increase the amount of services we
provide as well. That we could reach out to the people on the outskirts of the community
who have no financial resources for dental health, so that they too can be served.
With the generous support from interested individuals, like you, we can provide free labor
or cleanings, extractions and other necessary services, and only charge the cost of material
for other services. To see more about how you can be involved, please join as a support
member and support this needed ministry through our Change is Possible program.
Support Magda's work
Magda is currently attending school for orthodontics and will be finishing her program by October of 2009. She has begun to see orthodontics patients as part of her practicum, and has begun to provide this service in the community where there are no other orthodontists.
To learn more about the dental clinic and Magda’s orthodontics patients, please check out our blog where you can see the monthly report from the dental clinic. You can also support the Dental Health Care Ministry and Magda personally by first joining for free as a support member and making your support selection in the Change is Possible program.
"Partner with Eirene today as a "Support Member", working together in the
mission to change lives and transform communities in Guadalajara, Mexico".
Read and comment on our blog “Real Change”, I'd love to hear your thoughts.
I will be interacting about changing lives, how you can make a difference, and
sharing with you more in depth about our many programs. - Jon Cummings
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