The vivid sights and smells of India hit me the moment I left the airport in Delhi and will remain with me for ever. It was a cultural shock to see the hawkers and one-armed beggars among the jostling crowds, not to mention the spitting, ragged children.

It took a while to take in the slaughtered animals covered in flies, the pigs, cows, goats, chickens and diseased dogs. Everything, including the bicycle rickshaws, was in need of maintenance or at least a fresh coat of paint.

I spent four months in India, working as a dentist in two hospitals run by the Emmanuel Hospital Association (EHA). They were the Duncan Hospital, Raxaul, near the Indo-Nepal border, and the Jiwan Jyoti Christian Hospital, Robertsganj, 90 kilometres from Varanasi.
My time there was full of adventures. There was never a dull moment. Everywhere there were millions of people and a great buzz of activity. My blonde hair meant I was never going to become camouflaged into the crowd.

Shopping Expedition

My first shopping expedition was for the salwar kameez, a pyjama outfit with a back-to-front scarf. It felt like looking for a fancy-dress outfit, one size fits all. Once dressed in the native clothing, and using a few Hindi phrases, I soon learnt to cope with the constant hassling. 
I still ended up paying too much for everything and definitely went on some cycle-rickshaw journeys longer than necessary. Although the Indians wanted my money, they were also ready to help me out and give me advice.

EHA dental units aim to provide much-needed dental services to poor people in rural communities. There is one dentist to each 300,000 people in such places, whereas it is one to each 2,500 in the UK.

Dental decay in India is increasing and affects about 80 per cent of children. Oral cancer is the commonest cancer in India, representing about 35 per cent of all body cancers, as against 2.5 per cent in the UK.

Seven of the EHA hospitals have a dental unit and Duncan Hospital has the largest. Newly appointed dentists spend four months there on orientation. They learn how to modify treatment to meet the needs of the community best, with an emphasis on a Christian approach to dentistry.

Community

It was a real blessing to live in a Christian community. Every morning, the hospitals have devotion, a short service; and the dental department start the day with prayers. 

Being away from the western way of life gave me time to reflect on God's will. God really challenged me through many committed Christians I met. Their life was completely focused on serving God and sharing his love and hope.

They prayed with real expectations of healing and prophecy. I heard many stories of miraculous healing and there was never any doubt about God's over-ruling power. They were a real inspiration to me.

I spent eight weeks at Duncan Hospital. There were four dental chairs and seven dentists. We worked through a conveyor belt of about 60 patients a day. It was great to work as part of the team, but I found it difficult to treat patients without being able to communicate. 
The dental nurses helped translate my appalling Hindi and hand gestures. They often plonked patients in front of me saying "extraction, Dr J".

Dentistry mostly involved pulling teeth out. More complex things such as root treatments were available for those who could afford it. Most patients did not attend until they were in a lot of pain; which meant the decay had advanced well into the tooth and a simple filling was no longer possible.

Gum disease was common among the older patients. I took great pleasure in removing large chunks of tartar. Some teeth were heavily stained and eroded; which caused pre-cancerous oral lesions.

Remarkable Results

Only removable appliances were used to straighten teeth, but I saw some remarkable results. There was a technician at Raxaul, who made dentures and braces. In the other hospitals, it was the dentists' job; and I cannot do it competently.

I spent the second half of my time at a smaller hospital at Robertsganj, where there was only one dental chair. Rita, the dentist, set up the unit two years ago. She is brilliant, but has found herself isolated and frustrated with the equipment constantly breaking down.

I felt I had more control of the dental treatment here, since there was not such a gathering of patients. I had more time to spend with each patient and I managed to practise my Hindi. 
Rita and I spent a successful day doing a dental clinic in a nearby village, slowly working our way through the line of patients, giving advice and extracting teeth.

Continued

Crosslinks magazine November 2002 index