Local man helping those most in need

Wanganui dentist Hadleigh Reid with the Mercy Ship Afica Mercy at Pointe-Noir in the Republic of Congo.

Life-saving dentistry is part of the workload for Wanganui's Hadleigh Reid in the Republic of the Congo.

The 33-year-old dentist is volunteering for 10 weeks as part of the free healthcare programme brought to the nation by Mercy Ships, which operates the world's largest civilian hospital ship.

Despite the tremendous healthcare needs in the region, western African nations can provide only one dentist for every 200,000 to 1 million people. Consequently, the oral health care needs in nations like the Republic of the Congo are overwhelming, he said. According to the Dental Council of New Zealand the figure here is one dentist per 2028 people.

Mr Reid said the Mercy Ships flagship Africa Mercy visits a western African nation's port city for 10 months at the invitation of the local government. The free healthcare services delivered are from the 16,000-tonne vessel by an international volunteer crew of 450, who pay their own way for the privilege of bringing help to some of West Africa's poorest people. The much needed services include orthopaedic, ophthalmic, obstetric, and maxilla-facial surgeries, as well as burns and cleft lip and palate repair.

A dental clinic set up ashore in the port city sees hundreds of people in desperate need queuing for care daily.

Mr Reid joined the Africa Mercy dental team in October.

"The people here basically don't believe people would come here to work for free and have to pay to do so!

"There is a lot of need. For most of the patients, I assume it is the first time they have seen a dental professional. They don't have a clue what's going on and wince and squirm at everything.

"Twice a week Mercy Ships select the patients with the most need and each dentist sees about 20 patients a day.

"Most need numerous procedures. There are a few with very significant and sometimes life-threatening infections. One patient was transferred to the ship to be admitted to the ward because he was so swollen under his tongue that he couldn't swallow. He was there for a few days.

"We work in a clinic Mercy Ships had refurbished about 30 minutes' drive from the ship. We work in one big room with up to four other ship dentists and two translators. We have two dental chairs each. Pointe-Noir city is busy, noisy, smelly, hot and humid. We have air conditioning so that is a big help, although power cuts are not uncommon."

Since the ten-month Republic of the Congo field service began in late August, the Mercy Ships dental team have treated 2800 patients and performed more than 6900 dental procedures, he said.For more information about Mercy Ships see www.mercyships.org.nz