30 Days of Africa - #9

Dental Screening patient selection - an event that occurs every Monday and Thursday to choose patients to treat in the clinic for the week, but today was the first time I was actually able to observe the process...hundreds of people wait in 3 lines (men, women, and children) for the opportunity to receive an appointment at the dental clinic. Only about 150 to 200 patients are chosen randomly every screening making priority for those with obvious dental swellings. The most difficult thing about the screenings is all the people with dental problems who can't be chosen- they can wait in line for the next screening but we can only treat a certain number of patients every day. Many patients we see have waited in the screening lines several times before being selected, and they are very grateful to finally be treated for their dental problems. It was an amazing experience to see the screening process and the long lines of people just illustrate how great the needs are in Pointe Noire and the fact that we will never have a shortage of dental patients...