Written by Ding Bi-Hui, Wu Yi-Fang Photographed by Lin Jia-Ru Translated by Jodie Lee, Mindy Chen
The hosts of the dentistry seminar are Dr. Hsia Yi-Jan (right), Director of Dental Department of Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital, and Dr. Hsieh Chin-Lung (center), Vice Convener of TIMA Taiwan Northern Branch.
In the afternoon of Sep 11, 2019, the dentistry seminar was held in 220 lecture room. Dentists from different countries/nations took turns to introduce their specialty and shared how they surmounted obstacles of various environment, climate, language and local culture just to provide medical care for the sufferings, to relieve their pains and comfort their hearts.
To Diagnose Children’s Oral Function the Earlier the Better
The seminar was hosted by Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital Dental Dept. Director Dr. Hsia Yi-Jan and vice convener of TIMA Taiwan Northern Branch Dr. Hsieh Chin-Lung. The first sharing person is Dr. Zeng Wan-Qing from TIMA Taiwan Northern Branch who majored in pediatric dentistry and with 20 years clinical experiences. Regarding the malocclusion for children, Dr. Zeng pointed out two simple indicators: “a kid eats well will be happy” and “a kid who loves to laugh is with beautiful teeth”.
Dr. Zeng once met a 5-year-old kid who couldn’t pronounce “mama” and only can speak out a silent sound of “papa”. She said, “There are many forms of oral malfunction. If a child has limited expression, cries a lot, has no desire to eat, or over active… then maybe that child is with oral function problem(s). We expect earlier examination and interventions.”
Dr. Zeng said, “To treat a child with oral functional problem, we should consider growth time as a main factor for his/her orthodontics plan.” The reason is that a child’s skeleton continues to grow and the orthodontics plan will take several years to be done.
The 20% Difficult Cases Are Welcomed
Dr. Daniel D. Cheng, a dentist from California, USA, stated in English, “A dentist is like a Crime Scene Investigator, carefully investigating a crime scene to solve the crime case.” He explained the treatment of diseases with the 80/20 rule (for many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes). 80 percent of the patients are with comparatively less serious condition and respond well to the treatment. “On the contrary, 20 percent of the patients are with challenging condition and hard to treat. Doctors usually do not expect the latter to appear in their clinic. But I welcome them.” And Dr. Cheng has accumulated plenty treatment experiences with difficult cases. He also shared the audience many cases about Temporomandibular Joint Disorder (TMJ).
Light up the Life of the Disabled Patients
Dr. Zhao Li Dan is from Nanning, western Canton, China. She gave a speech on “Dental Care for the Disabled People Riding Wheel Chairs”. When she attended the 2018 TIMA Annual Convention, she was extremely moved by a speech given by TIMA Taiwan Northern Branch’s dentist Dr. Hsieh Chin-Lung – Clean Teeth for Those in Vegetative States in Nursing Home. She was inspired and afterwards, made a wish to take care of the oral health of the disabled in her home town.
There are about 1,350,000 disabled people in Eastern Canton. During Dr. Zhao’s growth along her surgeon father, she knew that many disabled patients couldn’t go see a doctor because of poverty. Through Dr. Hsieh’s help, the wheel-chair shelf designed by Taiwan’s TIMA logistic volunteers were sent to Nanning for Dr. Zhao to use. In April, 2019, she started to use this shelf to treat the disabled patients.
Thanks to this special wheel-chair shelf, the disabled patients don’t have to be moved from their wheel chairs to a dental chair for dental care. It benefitted 73 disabled patients for dental services in four months.
Due to government rules, Dr. Zhao holds free dental services in her own clinic instead of other establishments. She indeed gave hope to the poor disabled patients. During her free clinic, she also introduces Tzu Chi and its humanistic culture to her villagers, hoping to light up their life.
Just Do It No Matter How Hard It Is
Dr. Huang Wen-Guo, a dentist specialized in treatment for the disabled, serves in Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital. He shared his touching experience in Jordan. Earlier this year(2019), he went to Jordan with other TIMA doctors to offer free clinical services to the Syrian refugees. In the beginning, the refugees would rather depend on painkillers than to accept dental treatments. However, through constantly communication, the refugees with dental problems finally showed up in the dental clinic. Besides, it’s indeed a challenge when the dental treatment was processed in the room, without air conditioning, where the temperature was in the high 40 Celsius.
Dr. Huang and his partners completed treating 1,015 teeth, 37 root canal treatments and 4 cases of SSC installment no matter how difficult it was. Dr. Huang said touchingly that after his Jordan trip, “In my 17 years as a dentist, I eventually realize the meaning of a Jing Si Aphorism — If it’s right, just do it.“ He promises that he will serve the refugees in Jordan again.
Dr. Lydia See, a TIMA member in Australia, also shared her precious experience. She talked about how the venue for the free clinic was set up in Tara and how to obtain the resources for the free clinical services. An audience asked, “Tzu Chi often encounters obstacles when trying to cooperate with local medical institutes for offering oversea free clinical services. How can Tzu Chi Branch in Australia do so smoothly when seeking the cooperation with local medical institutes?
Dr. Lydia See replied, “Tzu Chi free clinical services win recognition from Australians. Many medical institutes are willing to cooperate with Tzu Chi so that the free medical services can benefit their people. It might be because, on one hand, TIMA volunteers enthusiastically visit the institutes and on the other hand, local people are moved by Tzu Chi spirits.
Realize the Meaning of Life through Free Clinical Services
TIMA Doctor as a Moral Model
Dr. Lee Zi-Ying is from TIMA Taiwan Southern Branch. She specializes in children’s dental health and special-needs dental care. She became a member of the Tzu Chi Youth Team when she was a university student. After graduated from medical school, she met a patient with the motor neuron disease, seeking her treatment for gum bleeding. This special experience was a trigger for her to think about a question: how to well treat such patients in the future?
Afterwards, she joined TIMA. She got the answer to her question through cleaning teeth for the vegetative with her TIMA seniors. This year, she also joined the free clinic team to Jordan. She experienced a Jing Si Aphorism “If the suffering people cannot come to you, you can go to them.” She is now much sure about her medical career and hopes that she can become a person like the streams in the desert so that she can bring love to the place with suffering. Moreover, she will recruit more people to join TIMA with her.
At the end of the seminar, Dr. Hsieh Chin-Lung sobbingly shared a story about Dr. Huang Shu-Hsien, who was a TIMA Taiwan member and passed away in March this year. In decades, Dr. Huang, as an anesthesiologist and dentist, offered free medical services to patients in vegetative states and the disabled in nursing homes. She won supreme honor in Taiwan’s medical field for her great love and enthusiasm; besides, her spirits inspire many medical personnel as well.
The seminar came to an end with the touching sharing harbored in audience’s mind.
Dr. Zeng Wan-Qing, a member of TIMA Taiwan Northern Branch, talked about how important the early orthodontic treatment for children is.
Dr. Daniel Cheng, a dentist from California, shared many complicate cases.
Dr. Huang Wen-Guo, a dental specialist for the disabled, shared his touching experience in the free clinical services in Jordan.
Dr. Zhao Li Dan (left) is from Nanning, western Canton, China, shared her experience in the dental care for the disabled riding wheel chairs.
Dr. Lydia See from Australia shared how the venue for the free clinical services was set up.
Dr. Lee Zi-Ying specializes in children’s dental health and special-needs dental care.
Dr. Hsieh Chin-Lung sobbingly shared a story about Dr. Huang Shu-Hsien, who passed away in March this year(2019).