Members of the Dar es Salaam District of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were blessed to receive free dental care offered by Dr. Samuel Richey DDS and his team from Salt Lake City recently as they made a brief stopover on their way to Bagamoyo. The team of four consisted of Dr. Richey, his dental assistant, Tarryn Person, her husband, Elliot Person, and the doctor’s son, Ashton.
“Dental pain is a horrible thing that people have to suffer through” Dr. Richey stated. “ If they know how to better care for their teeth, they will have less pain to live with.” Tarryn, doctor Richey’s dental assistant, was surprised at how many members needed their help. “ I didn’t expect so many people to be waiting at the door and how much pain they’d have.” Incredibly more than 100 men, women and children had signed up.
Luckily, the dental team did not work alone. Members were eager to help in anyway they could, from scheduling treatment times for patients and helping the dental assistant, to providing the dental team water to drink and food they didn’t have time to eat. All members who were involved made sure this brief visit was a successful one.
After one and a half days of grueling,non-stop work, Dr Richey and his team had treated 60 people and were off to their next destination at the Zinga Children’s hospital in Bagamoyo and then to Arusha to work with the Maasai community there. Every patient in Dar es Salaam went away with a home dental kit and instructions on how to properly brush and care for their teeth. Tarryn observed “I appreciated how grateful the children were when we gave them their light-up toothbrushes. It was so sweet to see.”
