"Abra la BOCA por favor."

Doing dentistry in the Dominican Republic, as 30 SDM students, faculty, and residents found out, proves many challenges, only one of which is the language barrier. The small village of Sosua, where we staged our clinic, is an environment far different from Squire Hall. However, it was the people of Sosua that truly made the difference. When thinking about our own patients here at the dental school, we would probably be hard pressed to find patients so appreciative of our services that they physically embrace you after their treatment, but the people of Sosua did just that.

This profound appreciation stems from the fact that many of these people have never visited a dentist in their life. They simply don't have the luxury of having six month recalls or the funds to have decayed teeth extracted. The disparity of health care that exists in the world today is undeniable, but what is most clear is how we can help to repair this vast inequality. BOCA, meaning "mouth" in Spanish, is a student-run organization here on campus that is devoted to providing free dental care to underserved populations.

In the Dominican, we provided dental care by headlamp at a local school, focusing our attention towards the neediest of this deserving population. With our pediatric dental team, we provided all phases of dental care to the children and developmentally disabled of Patzun. They adequately reciprocated by playing hop scotch and catch with us well after their visit, despite having waited in the hot sun for hours. In only a five day period in the Dominican this summer, UB students provided a total of $170,000 worth of dental care, but it is the impression that Patzun left on us that is truly priceless.

Lindsey Keck, Class of 2007