The San Pedro Smile Center Dental Clinic, located at the Holy Cross Anglican School (HCAS) in the San Mateo Area of San Pedro Town, is hosting its annual free dental services to Belizean children and other members of the community. Doctor Mark Johnson of Annandale, Minnesota founded the clinic in 2005 and has continued this volunteer effort along with his wife, Dr. Joan Johnson ever since. The first of three sessions commenced on Tuesday, February 18th and will conclude on Friday, February 21st. The visiting volunteers, Dr. Richard Treharne and Dr. Judy Treharne are from Rosemount, Minnesota and it is their second year volunteering with the Smile Center.
Dr. Mark says that the goal of the clinics is to provide dental services to those who cannot afford it and also instill early dental hygiene habits into the lives of the children. He believes many don’t go to the dentist until they experience pain and that can make for a bad first experience. He also uses the clinic as an opportunity to educate them on proper hygiene practices and dispels fears or misconceptions about going to the dentist.
The second session will take place both at Holy Cross and the San Pedro Polyclinic in collaboration with Dr. Irma Zuniga. This will run from March 2nd to March 5th and will include the biggest volunteer group. The final session will be from March 10th to the 12th at the Holy Cross Anglican School. Dr. Johnson and his volunteers encourage everyone who could benefit from these services to come out for future sessions. They would also like to thank Maya Island Air for offering discount flights to the volunteers, Cholo’s Golf Carts, and Avi’s golf carts for giving discounts to the visiting volunteers.
