Guatemala 2010

Surgical Team: In February, the surgical team worked at the Hospital Nino Jesus in Guatemala City and was hosted by the Pediatric Foundation of Guatemala with assistance from  Fundacion Internacional Para Ninos. Volunteers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints assisted in finding patients and providing translation help for patients who do not speak English or Spanish. Some families only speak a dialect called Kikchi or Quiche. A trip to Mexico is planned in September.

Dental Team: Three dental teams will again return to several areas of Guatemala.  Dates are interspersed throughout the year so that more children can be helped.   The first dental team of 18 just returned to the US following a successful mission to the Chiquimula area of Guatemala.

Most recent missions

August 2009

Humanitarian/Dental Team:

The humanitarian group brought down about four suitcases of humanitarian supplies which were donated by the Grand Junction Colorado West Stake Primary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormon).  Some of these supplies were taken to the Quezaltenango area of Guatemala and were given to  directors of the Aldea and Escuela Oficial Urbana Mixta de Educacion Especial “Xelaju”–the special needs school—to distribute as needed.  We also gave some items to Hogar Del Nino Minusvalido and Hermano Perdro orphanage. Hermano Pedro is an orphanage run by the Catholic Church which has children and adults with special needs. The team toured several cities in Guatemala (guatemala city, Quetzaltenango, Panajachel, Solola, Santiago de Atitlan) with the goal of finding areas with dental needs as well as adequate facilities that could be available for HSF dentists to work in.  The team consisted of  Dr. Glen R. Dean, Kelly Summers, Al Hymas, Don Cleveland, Richard Parrish, and Harold Davis all from Grand Junction, Colorado.

The dental team consisted of Dr. Glen R. Dean, Judy Melchor, Melissa Malott, and Cimmy Star of Grand Junction, Colorado.  They worked in an orphanage in Quezaltenango.They examined 39 people whose ages ranged from 1 to 64, 31 of which were under the age of 20.  All 39 patients received exams, oral hygiene, and x-rays. The dental team provided the following to these patients:  106 white fillings, 58 stainless steel crowns and 54 extractions, and 6 pulp therapies.

Both groups were assisted by Antonio Salguero of Guatemala.

Surgical Team: Our team, consisting of 13 medical volunteers returned to Boca del Rio and Veracruz, Mexico. HSF was hosted by DIF of Boca del Rio and worked at the ISSSTE hospital in Veracruz. We selected 23  patients for surgery and performed 29 procedures which included cleft lip and cleft palate repairs, burn scar contracture releases, frenulectomies, first and second stage microtia repairs, rhinoplasties, and canthalpexies.

May 2009

Surgical Team: Our team returned to Guatemala City. The team worked at the Pediatric Foundation of Guatemala’s Hospital Nino Jesus. Hirsche Smiles Foundation was assisted by Fundacion Internacional para Ninos which is under the direction of Naomi Bronstein. HSF performed operations on 42 needy children.  32 of the procedures were cleft lip or cleft palate related repairs.  Other procedures included frenulectomies (tongue-tied), burn scar releases, removal of extra fingers and toes, releases of syndactyly (webbed fingers or toes), and otoplasty.

April 2009

Dental Team:The team consisted of only 6 people and a different model was employed.  On this trip, we partnered with IGUATE, the government sponsored tourist program that provides transportation and protective activities to foster development and service, as well as the children’s foundation (Fundacion de Desnutrition de los Ninos) through Antonio Salguero. We visited three locations, working approximately two days in each, thus attempting to minimize the set up and take down time.The three locations in which care was provided were: Puerto San Jose, Masatenago, and Queteltenago.

Care was focused on permanent dentition, relief of pain, retention of permanent dentition, and stabilization of the disease process.  We attempted to see all the patients we could, at least for an assessment and any interceptive therapy deemed necessary. Advanced care (root canals, advanced restorative care) was focused on youth and anterior teeth. The following care was accomplished:

• Total patients seen = 351
• Restorations placed = 298
• Extractions (including 3rd molars) = 339
• Root canals (anterior teeth) = 7
• Sealants = 63
• Fluoride Varnish and prevention counseling = 38
• Adult cleanings = 10
• X-Rays = 24

February 2009

Dental Team: In association with Asorech in Guatemala, the Utah Dental Chapter™ of the Hirsche Smiles Foundation completed a highly successful 9 day service project February 13 through February 22. Success was again measured in the amount of care provided to patients, the operational smoothness of the logistics, and camaraderie developed between the team members during the trip.

Over seven hundred and 15 patients (totals do not include the final day of treatment at the Church) received a total of 986 extractions, 377 restorations (primarily in maxillary anterior and permanent molars), 17 sealants, 11 periodontal cleanings and assorted other clinical care. The dollar value of this diagnostic and clinical care, based on conservative Colorado fees, was approximately $260,000.

October 2008

Surgical Team: HSFs surgical team went to Boca del Rio, Veracruz, Mexico. HSF was sponsored by mayor’s office and a government agency called DIF. Dr. Charles H. Stewart of Provo, Utah (DRSTEWARTMD.com) was our plastic surgeon, Alan R. Patterson was the anesthesiologist, and our team leader was Sandra S. Mangum. We performed 31 procedures on 24 patients. 14 cases were cleft-related.

September 2008

Dental Services: HSF dental team returned to Guatemala. The mission leader was Dr. Richard Call from the Denver area. The team was composed of 8 dentist and 8 dental assistants. 552 patients received direct care and hundreds more received screening, dental health education, and oral health materials. Patients receiving direct services were primarily affiliated with the Chorti Indian tribe living in rural isolated mountainous regions of Chiquimula and Zacapa in Eastern Guatemala. Patients able to get to the public hospital in Chiquimula for an intensive one day service project (approximately 120 patients were seen on a Sunday afternoon). Five hundred and fifty-two patients received a total of 850 extractions, 365 restorations (primarily in maxillary anterior and permanent molars), 58 sealants, 85 topical fluoride varnish treatments and assorted other clinical care. The dollar value of this diagnostic and clinical care, based on conservative Colorado fees, was approximately $221,500.

February 2008

Surgical Team: Our team of 24 returned to Guatemala City and worked at the new Hospital Nino Jesus that is operated by the Pediatric Foundation of Guatemala. Our surgeons were Faizi Siddiqi (www.utahplasticsurgery.org), Steven H. Warnock (drstevenwarnock.com,) Galen Perdikis, and Larry Leonard. Anesthesiologists were Alan R. Patterson, C. Thayne Wilson, and Michael Taylor. We performed 60 procedures on 50 patients. 38 procedures were cleft lip or cleft palate related. Most of the funding for this trip was from The Smile Train and the Plastic Surgery Education Foundation. We greatly appreciated the funding we received from them.

October 2007

Surgical Team: A small surgical team of 12-14 people traveled to Cuauhtemoc, Chihuahua, Mexico. The trip was sponsored by the Lion’s Club of Cuauhtemoc. Dr. Charles H. Stewart was our surgeon and Alan R. Patterson the anesthesiologist. We operated on 29 patients who had a wide variety of conditions that required plastic surgery.

September 2007

Dental Team: The team traveled to Guatemala City and then to the Chiquimulilla area. Two teams of 9 traveled in small 4-wheel drive vehicles to remote sites identified and prepared by Asorech, a community development organization (NGO). 681 patients received direct care and hundreds more received screening, dental health education, and oral health materials. Patients received 1,396 extractions, 170 restorations and assorted other clinical care. The dollar value of this diagnostic and clinical care, based on conservative Colorado fees, was $272,890.

January 2007

Surgical Team: Surgeons Faizi Siddiqi, Jed R. Bindrup, and Charles H. Stewart and anesthesiologists along with three complete OR teams and additional recovery room nurses went to Guatemala City. The trip was sponsored by HSF and The Fundacion Pediatrica de Guatemalteca. 54 children received surgical intervention. Two of the children needed complex surgeries and would have had to travel to the United States to receive help had our team not traveled to Guatemala.

November 2006-Dr. Charles Stewart and team went to Cuauhtemoc, Chihuahua, Mexico. This is the first time we operated on children with microtia- (a deformity of the outer ear). This is quite an involved operation and consists of taking cartilage from a rib, fashioning an ear out of the cartilage and inserting the form of the ear under the skin where the ear should have been. The 2nd stage surgery willl be done next year. The child looked really great and was happy with his new look. 

October 2006

Surgical Team: Our team returned to Cuauhtemoc, Chihuahua, Mexico. For the first time, we were able to help children with microtia- a congenital deformity of the outer ear, as well as patients needing surgery for cleft lips and palates, and other conditions from injuries or birth defects. We performed 25 surgeries for patients who could not afford to pay local plastic surgeons to care for them.

February 2006

Dental and Surgical teams visited Guatemala with the largest number of volunteers yet. The Dental Team is now able to do dental restorations as well as extractions. Donations from local businesses allowed the team to purchase portable dental units and a hand-held x-ray machine. HSF was able to help more people than on previous trips.

October 2005

Surgical Team: Our team was accompanied to Cuauhtemoc, Chihuahua, Mexico by Dr. Robert Rey (Dr. 90210) and a camera crew from the E! Entertainment television channel. Dr. Charles H. Stewart was assisted by Dr. Rey on the procedures that were performed. The TV episode that was filmed is still being broadcast on the E! Entertainment Channel.