Province of Bohol, Philippines – Residents from the town of Baclayon flocked the Papal Hall located beside the historic Baclayon Church on Sunday, February 25, 2024 for a day filled with activities which was highlighted by a mobile dental mission made possible by a fated connection between Filipino-American dentists from San Diego, California, USA, and Tzu Chi Foundation Bohol.
Dr. Noel Aguilar, President of the National Association of Filipino Dentist in America (NAFDA) orchestrated several charitable activities to be done in one day for the people of Baclayon that he had to coordinate with the Local Government of Baclayon and various non-profit organizations including the Tzu Chi Foundation – Bohol Office.
According to Dr. Aguilar, he and his fellow dentists fund their association’s charitable programs, and all expenses come from their own pockets. He further divulged that the process to put together this event was a challenge especially with communications because of the 16 hours’ time difference between San Diego and Bohol. But he had bigger problems to deal with. While the group of dentists excitedly welcomed the idea to conduct a dental mission in targeted remote areas, bringing all the dental equipment and tools to the Philippines and into Bohol would cost them a hefty sum just for the shipping fees alone. He then made use of technology to connect him from one contact to the other until he got in touch with Tzu Chi Bohol’s TIMA (Tzu Chi International Medical Association) dentist, Dr. Raymond Lim that Dr. Aguilar could finally get a huge part of his worry off his chest. Dr. Lim introduced Dr. Aguilar to Tzu Chi’s dental missions that are being done around the province of Bohol with Tzu Chi’s very own complete line of dental mobile equipment and instruments and thus, a fruitful collaboration blossomed between the two organizations.
On the day of the dental mission, Tzu Chi Bohol represented by volunteer Bro. Joseph Co received a recognition by way of a framed Resolution No. 40-2024 from the Municipality of Baclayon wherein its Mayor, Hon. (Atty.) Alvin Uy recognized the major role of Tzu Chi Bohol to the dental mission by providing the portable dental equipment, apparatus, the procedure and process flow, and the workforce composed of Tzu Chi volunteers (2), youth and scholars (12), local volunteers (3), and dedicated staff (8).
Brother Joseph Co introduced Tzu Chi Foundation to the patients and Filipino-American Dentist from San Diego, California
Tzu Chi volunteers and staff performed the sign language, “Isang Pamilya” to the dental patients.
The Filipino-American Dentists initially planned to cater 160 patients. But Dr. Aguilar noticed the dental team got perked up brought by the efficiency of Tzu Chi’s dental equipment and Tzu Chi youths assisting them that the dental mission was able to serve a total of 485 patients who availed of extraction (194), prophylaxis (cleaning) (86), filling (5), and fluoride (200) services conducted by 18 Filipino-American Dentists of the NAFDA and the San Diego Filipino Dentist Association (SDFDA), 5 Dentists from Manila, and 5 local Bohol Dentists.
“I am so grateful to Tzu Chi that I was given this kind of an experience. It is my first time to join a big (dental) mission and I was assigned to assist the doctor in extracting and cleaning patient’s teeth. I’ve realized that there were many people who need free dental treatments, and I am happy to see people relieved of their pain”, shares aspiring medical doctor Ma. Eulyne Polinar, Tzu Chi youth and scholar.
Nine-year-old Angelie was brought by her adoptive mother to the mission site since she has been complaining of toothache for two weeks now and such pain would make her miss her classes in school. She was seen by Dr. Riley Garcia, a volunteer Dentist from Manila, and gave her not only an extraction but seeing a lot of accumulated tartars, she was given an oral prophylaxis as well. After she had a tooth extracted, the little girl was very happy and gave a beautiful smile of gratitude for making her ordeal go away.
“I’ve seen portable dental equipment before and used an old technique, but not like this one. This one is very hi-tech, it’s very promising in doing dental works. The scaler is good, the suction is good, everything is good. Thumbs up, Thumbs up! – Dr. Riley Garcia
On the other hand, Dr. Garcia expressed his fascination for having used for the first time the Tzu Chi portable dental equipment which not only hasten to cater to more patients but was also able to perform several procedures because of the complete dental setup and apparatuses.
Ratchel Winer, a 38-year- old housewife related that their barangay announced that it will only select one constituent to be referred to the dental mission. She was elated when she was told that she was chosen to avail of the free dental service. She was invigorated even more when during the registration on the day of the mission, she saw that it was Tzu Chi conducting the activity that her familiarity to the organization made her recall the time it helped their community during the height of the pandemic. Not only that Ratchel had her tooth extracted, but it was also her first time to have her teeth cleaned by a professional.
Earning a meek salary as a street sweeper made 25-year-old Virgel Pangan prioritize putting food on her family’s table rather than minding her dental problems. For more than 3 years, she has been bearing the throbbing pain coming from several of her already decaying teeth by taking pain relievers. There were times when she said that her decayed teeth would come off by itself when she eats hard food. She was happy to have her multiple teeth extracted on this mission so that she can finally get herself dentures in the future.
“The day is exhausting, but if you love your work, and if you love to help other people, at the end of the day no matter how tired you feel, as long you love what you do, it (tiredness) all goes away” – Tzu Chi Youth and scholar Joseph Aris Beldoro
The town of Baclayon is known for its fervent Catholic faith and produces a number of its residents joining the priesthood which became a ground for the Fil-Am dentists to stage the event at this municipality.
By Boholano’s tradition, Boholanos have a different way of expressing religiosity. One of which is to offer the first born to God, to become a priest or nun. Hence, we have a good number of priests and nuns here (in Baclayon) – Mr. Erico Joseph T. Cañete, Secretary – Sangguniang Bayan of Baclayon
Dr. Ditas Lizan, founder of the NAFDA disclosed that she was hesitant to push through this massive effort during the earlier stage of planning as she did not have an inkling of Tzu Chi. But upon setting foot in the Papal Hall and seeing all the different institutions come and work together, she uttered, “First, I want to thank Tzu Chi. It really touched my heart that all the doctors (who came with us) have one goal, that in helping others, there is no borders, no nationality, and no religion as I have heard from Dr. Raymond Lim tell us (during the planning days). I saw it here today and for that I am really blessed that we have done this (dental mission)”
Dr. Ditas Lizan (left) – founder of National Association of Filipino Dentist in America (NAFDA) with Dr. Noel Aguilar (right) – incumbent President of the NAFDA
