泰國短期醫療宣教團服務感想-Sabriana Shao， King’s College London
Tuesday 15th December- A warm welcome at the airport from 2 members of staff from the Overbrook team. A stunning location for dinner with delicious food alfresco style. Then driven to our hotel which was stunning from the outside and in. Our luggage was taken up to our rooms for us where we relaxed for the evening.
Wednesday 16th December- There were three teams of dentists today in one room， where patients were brought in and out. One team for scaling and polishing， one team for extractions， one team for extractions and fillings. As there were many dental units， the patients were seen very quickly and few patients were seen by the Overbrook and CHH team. We saw 14 patients. There were two power cuts during the day which made fillings a little tricky and we had to redo some of the stages. Personally I have extracted an upper left E in a pediatric case. The patient was not experiencing any pain from this tooth. The tooth was mobile buccally， but the tooth was not mobile palatally. The tooth was delivered intact. The UL5 was partially erupted beneath the ULE. I then restored LL345 in a patient who was experiencing sensitivity here， most probably due to toothbrush abrasion. The buccal cervical cavities were restored in composite. As we returned to the hotel- it was time for us to rehearse our performance for the Christmas party. For dinner we had a delicious bowl of ramen， where I chose the duck ramen.
Thursday 17th December- After watching the Overbrook team set up yesterday， teamwork was in full force， with all hands on deck. With the CHH team really trying to learn how to set up properly. With no other dentists helping us out today we had many patients to treat. We saw 45 patients altogether. There were many retained roots that needed to be extracted. The roots did not cause the patients any pain.
Other extractions involved teeth that were very mobile， but did not cause the patient pain. There were children that had decay and they needed the decay to be removed and fillings were required. After work we went to have ‘Bua Loi’ in a little stall that is close to our hotel， just at the entrance of the night market. My first experience of salted egg. What an amazing combination of saltiness with sesame and warm coconut milk. A great experience! As we returned to the hotel- it was time for us to rehearse our performance again for the Christmas party. Dinner was at Fuji， a Japanese restaurant. A delight of 7 bento boxes all lined up and photos being taken at different angles is a memory I will never forget. My Japanese delight was accompanied by a Thai iced tea， very sweet and refreshing!
Friday 18th December- The cold start to the morning did not phase us. We had finished setting up eagerly and called our first patient to the chair， only to find that there was no power for us to use the lights or drills. Plan b... Move the dental chair outside so we could start on the extractions. Just as we took the chair out， another room was found for us to set up clinics， this time with power. Today we had a dentist from Overbrook Hospital， he was at the extractions dental chair and our dentist from CHH was at the fillings chair. We saw 23 patients where most required restorations on decayed teeth， the majority were occlusal surfaces. Extractions of teeth were required on those that were either retained roots， or due to pulpitis or periodontitis.
After work， we paid a visit to the coconut market， here I had my first roasted coconut， the sweet， cold coconut juice was just what I needed after the long drive， and as the sun hit me， it was perfect. We then tried some other delights from the coconut market， where the innovative Thai’s had created a sweet coconut milk drink with a coconut jelly. Time to hit the hotel for a rehearsal of our dance performance for the Christmas party. Dinner MK- what an experience， cooking our own dinner in boiling broth with our hardworking team. A variety of meats， sea-foods and vegetables all boiling in a broth adding more and more flavour!
Saturday 19th December- Tour of Overbrook Hospital. A stunning building with a warm welcome. I loved the idea of the Christmas displays for every department， it showed the creativity and flare and individuality for each department. We then hopped back onto the mini-bus， this time with two wonderful tour guides， Annie and Ne， who spent the day with us. First stop- Baan Dam， looking at the weird but interesting Duchanee’s home with his collection of taxidermy and bones. Second stop for the day was at Wat Rong Khun. The spectacular white temple. A stunning building well recognizable by its crystal white features， with a definite feeling of purity. The day was enjoyable.
The evening came quickly with the Christmas party held at Dusit Island resort. What a spectacular set up， was a show of delights， wonderful performances with singing and dining. It was an enjoyable night with delicious food， rice， noodle stands， stir fry stands， soup stands， fruit stands， dessert stand， but best of all- a spit roast pork- how amazing.. The prizes given for the lucky draw was something I have never seen before. Fridges， bikes， TVs what wonderful prizes for such hardworking staff. Well deserved!
Sunday 20th December- Day out to Mae Fah Luang garden with our lovely tour guides Annie and Ne. The weather was stunning and we spend our time walking through the lovely flowers and taking lots of photos. Dinner was a delicious treat at a stunning restaurant. Getting to know the Overbrook nurses was lovely.
Monday 21st December- Walking into clinics this morning a bit of sadness is felt knowing it is the last day we would spend working with the Overbrook team. Today we arrived before the team and as the team arrived the team spirit begun once again. We all helped set up the dental clinic and we were now all used to the set up and use of the mobile clinic. A lovely dentist we haven't met before was in charge of the 'fillings' dental chair， and our dentist was in charge of the 'extractions' chair. All the equipment we needed was available. One patient was sent away due to an X-ray being required and further tests， with suspected inter proximal caries but no cavitation surfaces. 21 patients were seen in total. All patients were seen by 11.30 and for the last time， everyone helped to pack all the equipment up. We then went down to have our last meal together， which was rice， a spicy fish soup with cherry tomatoes and lemon grass and chicken with green vegetables. It was a delicious last meal. We then all got in the mini buses and went to the hot springs， where we all sat in a row with our feet in the hot water taking endless selfies and photos. We then went for an elephant tour which was such a great experience， excitement and fear of falling all rolled into one!
