Dr. Greg Moegling and Fiji Medical Dental Foundation
Hundreds in Fiji get extractions, dentures, fillings from Southern California dental care team
SOLEVU VILLAGE, MALOLO ISLAND, FIJI — Waves crash over the bows of three long boats as the torrential rains of cyclone season batter the occupants bracing against the pounding seas.
With Johnny Cash blasting from portable speakers – “I ain’t seen the sunshine since I don’t know when” – San Clemente dentist Greg Herd leads a team of 28 volunteers, most from Southern California, on a 30-minute boat ride bound for the Fijian island of Malolo.
As they hop from the boats in shallow-water landings, the drenched team makes a run for the dry Solevu community center. They are greeted by locals singing and clapping along to guitar and ukulele strumming, hugs, high-fives and spontaneous dance moves.
Team members peel off their rain gear and trash bag ponchos.
The patients are already lined up outside awaiting their appointments at the fifth annual free clinic conducted by San Clemente-based nonprofit Fiji Dental and Medical Foundation. “We see the smiles and know they appreciate us being here,” says Herd.
There’s no time to waste. The dentists, doctors, oral surgeons, hygienists, lab technicians, dental assistants, and their helpers from the local village rush to their work stations.
The beat of Herd’s rock and reggae music energizes the air already filled with a cacophony of sounds from the improvised dental office – thumping portable generators, scuba tanks powering the whirring drills and suctions, fans circulating the hot, humid air and pressure cookers autoclaves whistling with sterilized dental tools.
Patients arrive in waves. Local villagers, elementary school children in green uniforms, preschoolers with their moms, dive shop and construction workers, chefs, bartenders and other resort staff by the boatload, even the chief of the island chain.
As one patient’s procedure is finished, the next patient is already on the way to the dental chair.
An advance team arrived a week earlier to conduct preliminary screenings at resorts throughout the Mamanuca island chain. They arranged appointments and worked with villagers to solve logistical issues so the dental team could hit the ground running. A year’s planning, fundraising and preparation is thrust into action.
A four-year wait for new teeth
Geoffrey Nasavuilagi, a 24-year-old rugby player, lost two front teeth in a tackle years earlier and has waited four years for this dental appointment. He grew up in Solevu village, population 600, until he was recruited to play for Fiji’s rugby club on the mainland. He’s returned each year hoping to get new teeth. But the need for even the most basic dental care is great and he’s had to wait his turn.
But on this day, as Nasavuilagi waits in a makeshift dental chair strapped to a cinder block platform, dentist Greg Moegling of San Clemente takes impressions of his mouth assisted by dental hygienist Jennifer Graffia of Rancho Santa Margarita.
Working on a nearby patio surrounded by onlookers, lab technicians Charles Georgos of Aliso Viejo and Laura Mackanin of Mission Viejo grind out acrylic dentures at a feverish pace.
Nasavuilagi is among 445 local villagers treated during a four-day dental and medical clinic on Malolo Island.
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, toohpaste, 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.
Busy day at the clinic
There’s a steady flow of badly decayed teeth to extract, children with severe “baby bottle mouth syndrome” and patients hoping for dentures or “flippers.”
Hygienist Graffia holds a mirror up to show Maria Haddasha Banuve, 53, her new partial denture. “Wow! I see myself like I was 20 years ago,” she exclaims. “This is probably the beginning of a new chapter in my life. Vinaka vakalevu, thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
Huntington Beach hygienist Laura Bratt assists oral surgeon Abe Estess of Hermosa Beach with a series of extractions and a couple minor surgeries. “I look forward to every year,” said Bratt who is on her third trip. “I think of things throughout the year that may make patients happier and procedures easier for us.”
This year she brought bibs for the patients.
Fatima Lopez, a dental assistant from Rancho Santa Margarita, applies fluoride varnish to the teeth of a squirming two-year-old girl wearing purple rain boots. A small boy who had two infected baby teeth extracted earlier returns to give Lopez a bracelet.
“That was a very touching moment,” Lopez says, beaming. “I know I made a difference in his life.”
Carly Brundage of Rancho Santa Margarita has worked in Herd’s dental practice for 18 years. She is secretary for FDMF and tallies the clinic numbers for Fiji Ministry of Health.
As Sai Kasowega approaches the checkout desk, Brundage recognizes she’s in need of a good hug. The 25-year-old Namotu Island restaurant worker just had 12 terribly decayed and infected teeth extracted – and she still manages a twisted smile.
With the help of a little Ibuprofen, Sai is back to work the next morning serving breakfast to the dentists on Namotu Island. She’ll get her dentures when the dental team returns in a year.
Saying goodbye – but planning to return
It’s the last day of the clinic. Team members try to find a few minutes to hand out toys, play with the kids or chat with the villagers between procedures. Several patients stop by with handmade gifts to show their appreciation.
Nasavuilagi, the rugby player, returns for the fitting of his long-awaited partial.
“Before I got my teeth, I used to smile covering my mouth,” he says, while enthusiastically thanking everyone responsible. “Now I can smile whenever I want. Doctor Greg and other doctors said I look so handsome. I think my smile is more than beautiful. … Even though we don’t have that much resources we are still happy with the little things we have. … The smile that I have right now.”
As with each year’s clinic, there simply isn’t enough time for the team to treat everyone who shows up. Some will need to come back next year.
The clinic is dismantled and packed away in huge rubber crates and boxes. Team members say their good-byes to the Solevu villagers who have helped.
As the boats begin to pull out, little kids run along the shore waving. Volunteer Annie Brown of Capistrano Beach, wearing a necklace given to her by a patient, waves back with both arms.
Thinking about leaving, she says, “I just got goose bumps. It’s sad. But knowing we’ll be back next year makes it all OK.”
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How you can help
Volunteer: dentists, hygienists, physicians, non-medical support personnel
Donations: equipment, dental supplies, reading glasses
Tax-deductible donations: 501(c)3 International Relief: Fiji Dental & Medical Foundation: P.O. Box 535, San Clemente, CA 92674
Information: 949-280-9551; fijidmf@gmail.com, fijidentalmedical.org
By the numbers
Total dental procedures performed by the nonprofit: 4,861
Including: 490 extractions
92 fillings
46 partial dentures with 167 teeth
1,679 teeth treated with SDF (AgF2) silver diamine fluoride to arrest decay
158 fluoride treatments
Total medical procedures: 8,151 total medical procedures, including blood pressure, hemoglobin testing and blood glucose testing