On the Ground with a Dental Mission: How it Works and Why it Matters

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Serving the oral healthcare needs of underserved populations can be rewarding experiences.
• Public health systems are becoming more stringent about foreign health missions with more licensing and inspections.
• Equipment and product donations are a win-win for missionary teams and companies’ charitable divisions.

For 15 years, Sherri Lukes, RDH, MS, has led an experienced network of professionals to central Mexico on an annual mission to provide dental hygiene services to villages and an orphanage. She has discovered from her experience the importance of developing an international collaboration in order to conduct mission work in a foreign country. 

Lukes shares her insights and advice for others wanting to become involved in dental missions, including locating equipment, adjusting to logistical challenges, dealing with licensing, inspection, and recordkeeping, and other issues that arise. She also explains how to reach out to companies’ charitable divisions, explaining the details of the mission and how their products fit in.

Learn from her experiences to find out how you too can make a difference by becoming involved in your own dental mission.