“Be true to your teeth and they won't be false to you.” ~Soupy Sales

Our teeth are often taken for granted, until there’s an ache, a cavity, or an infection. However, oral care is necessary, no matter the country. The World Health Organization reports that worldwide 60 to 90 percent of school children and almost 100 percent of adults have dental cavities which eat away at the teeth.

San Rafael is a beautiful mountain village in central Honduras. Fed by streams, its primary industry is coffee plantations. The people of San Rafael eat corn, rice and beans; they drink Coke, coffee, or the waters of descending mountain streams.

Good medical and dental care though are distant. Once a year, dentists come to the village to fix what teeth can be saved and educate patients about how to take care of their teeth.

Dr. Andrew Turke, a Palm City dentist, travels to San Rafael yearly to work in his field as a volunteer.

Dr Turke states, “San Rafael has a high rate of dental disease due to lack of dental care and education. Many children have lost their molars, whereas the adults have previously lost their molars and are in the process of losing their front teeth. Complete loss of natural teeth is a real danger; fewer foods can be consumed, leading to nutritional deficiency and bodily disease.”

Andrew Turke DMD is part of a dental mission team from Treasure Coast Community Church, TC3 in Jensen Beach. Traveling with him are fellow dentists: Dr. Jose Sarasola, Dr. Timothy Salib, Dr. Thomas Galinis. The team also includes dental assistant Andrea Turke, three other dental assistants, and dental hygienist Sonta Delabarrera.

In February 2017, the TC3 dental mission team went to San Rafael. Together with a Honduran dental mission team, a temporary dental clinic was set up in a church sanctuary. Using camping headlights over their foreheads, a pressure cooker for sterilization, and church translators—the two teams saw 715 adults. The teams restored holes in front teeth when possible with a resin composite material, pulling teeth, and filling remaining cavities.

During a previous trip in 2015, Dr. Turke’s team saw 320 children, extracting rotted molars, cleaning cavities and placing fillings.

The problem in San Rafael is three-fold.

First, there are no wells nor a treatment plant for clean water. Residents get sick from drinking mountain stream water from a two-foot wide ditch, resulting in sickness—gastro-intestinal problems, bacterial infections and even parasite infestations. Coke is cleaner to drink and is readily available at markets, but it is not good for the teeth.

Second, residents of San Rafael can afford little. They work as laborers on the coffee and sugar plantations beginning at about age 12 or 13. Houses outside the village are constructed from sticks, clay and sheet metal.

Third, no permanent dental clinic is in place.

Dr. Turke has a vision. He would like to fund a permanent dental clinic in San Rafael to provide continuing health care and education. To do this, a piece of property must be purchased and a dentist installed.

Why is this so necessary? When the teeth and gums are unclean, bacteria is invited into the body, setting people up for disease. Disease leads to death. Dr. Turke states that this is on his heart. “These people are good, hardworking people who need my help,” he adds.

Andrew Turke DMD is a native Floridian, born and raised in Plantation. He moved to Jensen Beach in 2009 and is a graduate of Nova Southeastern University. His local practice is Turke Advanced Dental Arts, in Palm City. Dr. Turke relates, “I became a dentist because I enjoy working with my hands on teeth and seeing the smile of a happy patient.” The smiles of those he has helped in San Rafael are priceless.

You can reach Dr. Turke at aturke@icloud.com or at 772-919-7444.

The poor will always be with us--without access to health care, with no permanent address. Often times the poor are working people who have developed poor health conditions, leaving them unable to work.

Extreme poverty in the United States is growing. (World Hunger)

Extreme poverty means living on less than $2.00 a day without adequate housing, food, or medical care. In some areas of the country extreme poverty hits one of every 25 families.

Florida has the third largest incidence of homelessness in the United States.

Many of the Sunshine state’s homeless take refuge in a tent in the woods. It’s a dangerous and difficult situation to get out of, unless help is offered.

Dr. Jeff Lazarus with a patient he helped in Nicaragua

Dr. Jeff Lazarus, a Port St. Lucie orthopaedic surgeon is a physician volunteer with Light of the World Charities. Their mission is to deliver quality health care to the world’s poor. Dr. Lazarus performs necessary surgeries without charge to truly homeless Americans in Martin County. He has seen patients go back to work and move out of their tents after their health is restored.

Light of the World Charities has a local dental program in Palm City for indigent, uninsured and working poor adults as well.

Light of the World Charities was founded by the late Reverend Bernard Powell and Mrs. Theresa Banks, RN of Holy Redeemer Church in Palm City. The church has sponsored medical and surgery teams to help local citizens and the poor abroad. Each year, a team goes to Central America, Africa or Haiti, providing repair of hernias, cleft palates, and surgeries on lips, eyes, and limbs. Urological, gynecological, and arthroscopic procedures are also performed. Necessary dental care is included.

The charity has drawn more than 400 volunteers from around the United States to help the needy.

Dr. Lazarus, of Treasure Coast Orthopaedic, has taken three trips with the charity to Central America to help fix ankles, knees, and elbows. He has always wanted to be a doctor; growing up, he enjoyed working with his hands using drills, hammers, plates and screws. He uses these tools in his practice at home, seeing many patients for knee and shoulder arthroscopy and knee, shoulder or hip replacements. The technology he uses is brand new, but in Central America, the equipment isn’t the most modern technology. Using his surgical training from the 1970s and 80s, Dr. Lazarus must be creative and will create tissue grafts out of little.

Dr. Lazarus states, “Medical services in other countries, specifically Central America, are not at the level of the United States. Sometimes the poor must walk many miles to a doctor or hospital. The injury or illness can leave the patient unable to work or living life as a pariah, an unwanted person.”

The need to help the extreme poor is immediate, whether at home or abroad. Medical professionals like Dr. Jeff Lazarus provide compassionate treatment both in the United States and abroad. They give sacrificially of their time and money. Dr. Lazarus mulls over each case to determine how to get the best result for each patient. These trips are sometimes dangerous, depending on the country; guards with machine guns may accompany the volunteers.

Light of the World Charities needs to be supported locally as it has chosen to help those at home as well as those in poorer countries. Poverty and suffering are growing. The poor will not go away, but need help. Support Light of the World Charities as they continue to be a source of hope to the truly poor.

HAVE A HERO TIP? Send your Hometown Hero tip to Kelly Jadon: kfjadon@gmail.com

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