Reacting to a dental crisis

Greg Herd and his wife, Lisa, of San Clemente, first visited the beautiful palm-fringed beaches of Fiji 20 years ago on their honeymoon. The following year, Herd read in a surf magazine about Namotu Island on a reef next to some of the world’s most famous surf breaks. And so began an annual surfing safari with his buddies.

“I would come here and see all the Fijians that we’ve made friends with over the years,” said Herd of the resort staff at Namotu Island. “They would smile and I’d see one tooth missing. I’d come back the next year and see two teeth missing.”

The Fijian people, said Herd, have a limited understanding of dental hygiene and little access to care. As a dentist, Herd recognized an opportunity to help give back to the population. About 1,500 people live within the Mamanuca island chain, a South Pacific volcanic archipelago of about 20 islands, eight of which are inhabited with others vanishing at high tide.

Herd asked his patient and good friend Mark Brown of Capistrano Beach to help him found the nonprofit FDMF, along with Scott O’Connor, managing director of the Namotu Island Blue Water Sports Resort. The Fiji Ministry of Health gave approval to the nonprofit and its mission of promoting dental and medical health through prevention, education and restoration.

In five years of clinics, the Fiji Dental and Medical Foundation team has treated about 2,000 patients, each also receiving a toothbrush, toothpaste, dental floss and a brochure on dental hygiene.

“We screened 200 school kids this year and I think we’re making an impact,” said Moegling, a board member who has also been surfing the Fijian islands for 20 years.

Teachers now insist all students brush their teeth after lunch. “The next generation will grow up with their teeth,” he said.