North Texas Dentistry Volume 8 Issue 3 2018 ISSUE 3 DE | Page 17

to change wires and fix broken brackets
between visits, but otherwise, the level of
care is identical to that provided at his
longtime Tarrant County practice,
Johnson & Collins Orthodontics. Most
supplies, donated by Collins and ortho-
dontic product supplier Ormco, fit in
a suitcase.
Some reinforcements accompanied Collins
on his latest venture this spring: the entire
second-year graduate orthodontic class at
Texas A&M College of Dentistry.
He merely mentioned his Roatán trips to
the six graduate students the previous year,
and throughout the semesters that fol-
lowed, they reminded him they were inter-
ested in going, too. By December 2017, it
was official. The class took the trip during
spring break, alternating clinic days to treat
approximately 50 patients throughout the
week, which also allotted them some
much-needed relaxation.
those teeth serve as anchors in orthodontic
care. “Some of the teeth may not be able to
be saved, and you’re trying to plan your
treatment around that,” Barnhart adds.
What’s more, the situation occurred in
nearly every single patient she screened.
“It makes it hard for some of our treatment
planning,” says Dr. Jennifer Ryan, a sec-
ond-year orthodontic graduate student.
“You are helping them fix a problem that
they didn’t know was happening; that’s not
something we normally do here.”
Even so, patients clamored to be seen.
“The kids are so tough,” says Ryan. “They
were lining up at the door. There’s such a
language barrier, but they and their par-
ents are just so willing to let you do what-
ever you think is best. They were super easy
to work on and so thankful.”
Texas A&M College of Dentistry (formerly Baylor
College of Dentistry) in Dallas is a part of Texas
A&M University and Texas A&M Health Science
Center. Founded in 1905, the College of Dentistry
is a nationally recognized center for oral health
sciences education, research, specialized patient
care and continuing dental education. Learn
more at dentistryinsider.tamhsc.edu or follow
@TAMUdental.
Jennifer Eure Fuentes is a communications
coordinator at Texas A&M College of Dentistry. A
2006 graduate of Texas Christian University, she
has worked in the communications and editorial
field for 12 years.
“We are at that point where we feel com-
fortable working on our own,” says second-
year graduate student Dr. Jacob Bleyer,
“and having the freedom to do that gives
you confidence.”
Collins’ vantage point in the College of
Dentistry’s orthodontic clinic one day a
week allows him to contrast the graduate
students’ experiences at Clinic Esperanza.
“It gives them a chance to not have some-
one looking over their shoulder telling
them what to do,” says Collins, who over-
saw their work in Honduras. “They get to
see patients and make snap decisions just
as if they were in private practice, facing
things that they’ll probably never see at
home as far as some of the compromises
that have to be made for missing teeth.”
Navigating those compromises, as well as
treatment planning without panoramic
x-rays or study models, was perhaps one of
the biggest challenges during the trip, says
Dr. Elisabeth Barnhart, a second-year
orthodontic graduate student.
“A lot of the patients have very highly cavi-
tated first molars,” she says, citing local
drinking water and sugary drinks as prime
culprits. It’s a bit of a challenge, considering
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