Tour of the Office - This is the reception area.  You walk through the front door and this is what you see.  There were people waiting to be seen 1.5 hours early.  We start at 8:30 and we go until about 6:00 PM.  We get about 15  minute lunch break.  There is such a need and these people are very deserving of the service that we are providing.  They are very thankful, humble, happy people.  I've never met a group of people that are SO humble and grateful.  This room is filled all day with people and there are people outside waiting in line to be seen.  We do have appointments, but we also try to see all the walk-ins that come.

This area is where we do Root Canals.  There are a lot of patients that have so many decayed teeth, that we have to either extract the teeth or try to save them the best we can by doing Root Canals and large fillings.  We hardly use this room right now because the air compressor is down right now and we're waiting for it to be fixed.  We're going to start using this room more for hygiene instruction and simple cleanings.

This is right behind the reception area.  We have one x-ray head that we can take bitewings and PA's, but we do not have a Pano.  We have to go by whatever we can get using this one unit.  This is pretty high tech for Tonga though.  We take the x-rays right in the hallway.  The patients sit on the step stool, and we take the x-rays.  It's not ideal, but it works.  Around the corner is where we do most of the work.  When you think about how basic Tonga is, this is a pretty good set-up.

These four operatories are where we spend most of our day.  I have two operatories and Dr. Steve Johns has two.  We bounce back and forth seeing patients.  It's pretty efficient for what it is.  Dr. Steve Johns and his wife Sue Johns are incredible people and they have really organized this clinic well.  What's really neat is you don't have to worry about all the crazy things you have to worry about in America.  We don't have HIPPA, OSHA, worrying about permission to do this or do that.  We see a need, we fill the need.  If someone needs some care, we do as much as we can for them.  The service to these patients is totally free.  There are only two clinics here in the kingdom of Tonga.  One is the government which is VERY basic (more basic than ours) and ours.  Word travels fast and most people come to this clinic.  

Logan's 1st Extraction - We did a lot of extractions today.  I told Logan with this woman that I would let him do one of the extractions.  I of course asked her permission and she said that would be great.  We extracted some teeth and delivered a partial denture to her to replace the missing teeth.  Logan was really nervous, but he did a great job.  

This woman said she wanted to adopt Logan as her son.  She never had any sons and said she always wanted one.  We told her she could adopt Logan.  She told us of her past history and told us why her jaw wouldn't close right.  Her occlusion (bite) was off by quite a bit due to her jaw being dislocated.  She said that years ago she married a man from Fiji.  She is native to Tonga, but met, married, and lived in Fiji for a time.  Her husband was so abusive that her jaw was dislocated several times and finally she left him and came home to Tonga.  She said she is much happier now, but lives with chronic pain from all the physical abuse.  She is so happy and humble!  My heart really goes out to some of these people.

 

This woman had a ring that was too tight and wanted it cut off.  Our clinic not only works on teeth, it apparently cuts off old unwanted gold rings too.  :)  This woman could not get her ring off, so she wanted it cut off.  After going through a couple of burs with the high-speed, the ring was removed and her finger was free.  Bizarre things here!  

After work today, we were surprised to find a real Tongan dinner ready for us at our apartment.  A Sister missionary had cooked all sorts of great foods for our family.  What a great blessing!  She cooked a vegetable called "Ufi" which is a cultural Yam.   It tasted like potatoes.  She also made a curry that was really good.  These people are so hospitable!  That's why they call the Tongan islands the "Friendly Islands".