Day 8 - El hombre malo

Last night the rain really lowered the temperature. As a result, I had one of the best night's sleep while I've been in Honduras. It was even cool on our walk to the Cocina (kitchen) where we take our plates to get a hearty breakfast of rice pudding and banana bread, and on our walk to the oficina del dentista.

This morning we worked on some of the younger kids who are new arrivals at the ranch. For the most part, the kids who have been here for a while have great teeth. I've mentioned that they brush 3 times a day and it really shows. The new arrivals are a mixed bag. Sometimes they have good teeth, but more often than not, they have a lot of needs. Today, Alex (pictured) worked on a 2 year old and I worked on a 3 year old. It was really the first time that I'd worked on someone so young and honestly it was pretty intimidating.
The patient I had was incredibly difficult to work with. I learned later that she had bitten Dilcia's (the dentista) finger hard enough to cause a scar. Today she needed two fillings and she wanted no part of the dentist. You can't imagine how difficult it is to give an injection to a 3 year old who doesn't want it. Literally she was squirming all over the chair. We ended up needing the help of her 'big sister' and Norma (one of the rising 2nd year dental students on our trip) to keep her steady long enough to give the injection. You'd think that once the injection was done and the area was numb, she'd relax a little. Well, that wasn't the case today. She squirmed and fought the ENTIRE time we worked on her. By the time we were done, she was completely worn out. I felt so bad for her but she needed the work done. She reminded me of a patient from earlier in the week who pointed at me and said, "El hombre malo" which translates into "the bad man". It's difficult and stressful to be the bad man, but I suppose we all have to do it every now and again.