Local dentist works in Nicaragua

Conditions in Nicaragua are crude, but dental personnel are skilled. Photo provided

Imagine that a toothbrush cost $1,000 -- if you could find one at all. Daily dental care would be out of reach for most people.

That's the way it is in the rural hinterlands of Nicaragua, where Sisters dentist Steve Spear spent two weeks in January.

The trek was a low-key affair organized by Bend resident Tim Jeffries, who has been visiting Condega, Nicaragua, for 20 years, helping its residents in various ways to cope with the fallout from revolution, civil war and natural disasters.

The resiliency of the people in the face of disaster and poverty made a strong impression on Spear.

"These people... they don't give up," he said.

And their strength is not of a grim and brittle type. They are full of the joy of life.

"They're happy," Spear said. "really, really happy."

But they do have problems, including very poor dental care. The personnel at the clinic where Spear worked were skilled and professional -- they simply lacked basic equipment and medicines.

"It was daunting at first," Spear admitted. "Sterilization does not exist. Sterilization is not even a concept, really. Clean, yeah."

There is a difference between clean and sterile and Spear provided a convection oven to help with the sterilization of tools. He hopes the fickle electrical current in Condega doesn't burn it out.

The lack of modern equipment and facilities does not equate with primitive skills. Spear said the staff was remarkably capable in ways that the most skilled American dentists with their state-of-the-art equipment find hard to emulate.

"We're so technology-oriented that if something breaks down we throw up our hands and say, 'we're done,'" Spear said.

That's not an option in Condega, since their high-tech equipment dates to the 1950s and '60s and much of it broke down years and years ago.

Spear and the clinic dentists saw 50 to 60 patients a day; men, women and children who came into the clinic from all over the neighboring countryside.

"It's basically just extracting teeth," Spear said. "Most of the teeth we were extracting were first molars, teeth that had been in the mouth the longest and they'd never seen a toothbrush."

That simple implement is critical, according to Spear. They are extremely scarce and practically nobody could afford to buy one out of their $100-a-year income.

"Toothbrushes are non-existent," Spear said. "If you took down 10,000 it wouldn't be too many."

Spear plans to return -- with toothbrushes and other dental equipment.

He was deeply smitten by the country and its people. Despite a history of U.S. intervention -- including support for the Contras in a brutal civil war -- the people seemed to like Americans.

"Everyone has a perception that going to Nicaragua is dangerous," Spear said. "Actually, by everything I read, in Latin America it is one of the safest places for a tourist.

"I certainly found it that way," he said. "At no time did I feel threatened."

Those interested in more information or in making donations -- particularly of toothbrushes -- may contact Spear at 549-0973.

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.

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