were no technicians to help set them
up. We called all day, and finally had
someone arrive Thursday evening to
assemble the machines. Connecting
and using all three did not occur until
Friday morning. Crisis No. 3 averted!
Heavy rain was predicted for the next
few days, so I rented a long sidewalk
tent to help keep waiting patients dry.
Crisis No. 4 averted!
Set-up continued until 5 p.m. Thursday
when I finally left the building to go
across the street for dinner. This was
likely 50 steps and 20 crises later.
Gary and I did one more walk-through
to make sure we had everything ready
to go. Outside the entrance I greeted
the first person in line, Earl. He was
so happy we were doing the dental
mission and he appreciated the tent
we put outside to help those who
might be stuck in the rain overnight.
He told us that he had heard about our
mission from his church and he needed
some broken teeth extracted. During
dinner at the hotel we watched as a
few others began to join the line behind
Earl. By the time I left there were several
people in line. It was 9 p.m.
I was able to get to sleep, but the alarm
woke me up at 4 a.m. My hotel was
across town. As I drove to the Santander
arena I was curious how many people
would be in line. It’s always a surprise.
Some cities had hundreds in line by 5
a.m, others not as many. As I drove in
I could see that the line was stretching
the entire block and growing. This was
going to be a busy day.
I entered the arena and immediately
met with Gary. There were 16
autoclaves to turn on, walkie talkies to
distribute and last minute checking of
everything. Quickly the space began
to fill with other volunteer leads
who checked their areas to make
sure everything was in order. Oh,
and there was coffee to drink thanks
to our wonderful hospitality staff of
volunteers.
At 5 a.m. we allowed the first 100
people in line, with Earl at the front,
to enter and register. During the next
12 hours we treated 980 patients
and provided cleanings, extractions,
restoration, root canal treatment and
limited numbers of partial dentures.
SEP TEM BER/OC TOBER 2018 | P EN N SYLVAN IA DEN TAL JOURNAL
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