Roseman Dental Students and Volunteers Provide Free Dental Care to 164 in Ecuador

Eight students from Roseman University’s College of Dental Medicine recently returned from a trip to Ecuador where they provided free dental care to adults and children in desperate need.

The group of volunteer dentists and student dentists provided extractions, fillings, restorations, and oral hygiene instruction for children and adults in need in the cities of Guayaquil, Punta Blanca and Cuenca, seeing 164 patients and performing over 300 procedures.

Fourth-year dental student Khealynn Harris planned the trip as part of the L.O.V.E. Project, a non-profit started by her mother and four aunts (the Villamar sisters) who are native Ecuadorians. The sisters created the organization 15 years ago after two of them took clothing donations from their own children to give to homeless children in Ecuador and realized there was a significant need. To date they have delivered clothing and other items to more than 1,600 children, and the organization’s ultimate goal is to build a medical clinic in Guayaquil to provide vaccinations and medical care to children for free.

“One of my aunts is a dentist, and she has been wanting to make dentistry part of the L.O.V.E. Project for many years,” said Harris. “Now that I am a fourth-year dental student and have the resources, we were able to make it happen.”

Seven third-year dental students from Roseman University College of Dental Medicine accompanied Harris—Jason Gleave, Corey Carroll, Dallin DeLoach, Dane Nelson, Quincy Thompson, Nate Criddle, and Matt Bender—as well as volunteer dentists Dr. Maritza Villamar from New York and Dr. Joyce Lee from Atlanta.

“I started planning the trip in November, reaching out to vendors to ask for supply donations, then spread the word to classmates and got a group of volunteers who were interested in helping,” said Harris. The volunteers purchased plane tickets (everyone paid his or her own way), coordinated with a local family to plan for lodging and clinic space, and notified people who might be interested in seeing the volunteer dentists. Once they arrived in Ecuador they set up a clinic in a local public dental school for three days. All the dental supplies were donated.

While the most recent trip only included dentists and student dentists, they hope to expand it in the future to include additional health services. Harris and many of her Roseman University classmates are already planning to go back next February.

“This was such a rewarding experience,” said Harris. “I was so grateful to be part of this, and we have lots of good ideas for next year.”

Check out students Khealynn Harris and Dane Nelson sharing their experience on Good4Utah, and see photos from the trip below.