“You Get Back Much More Than You Give”

Spear Education’s Open Wide Foundation lays the groundwork for quality dentistry in Guatemala

Those are the words of Dr. Duke Herrero, a dentist from Piedmont, Calif., talking about his experience in Peronia, Guatemala, where he served with other volunteer dentists and support staff at the opening of the Open Wide Foundation’s first clinic.

It was a spectacularly successful launch for what is turning out to be a unique new model for dental care relief efforts.

The Open Wide Foundation was created and developed by the leadership at Spear Education as a way of giving dentists an opportunity to make a lasting difference in world communities that desperately need their help.

The vision was bold and ambitious. Rather than set up temporary makeshift care centers, they would build fully equipped modern clinics. Dentists who participated would serve not just as volunteers, but also as advisors, helping to train local practitioners and dental students from regional universities. Eventually the clinic could be turned over to the community as an ongoing self-sustaining entity.

Open Wide is about much more than a few dentists being dispatched to pull teeth and relieve pain under challenging conditions. It is about giving modern dentistry a foothold in areas where there is a real opportunity to establish a whole new level of care for generations to come. It is dental philanthropy with a long-term vision.

So when that first clinic opened last January in Peronia — a city of 75,000, where the residents had no access to regular dental care and the average income is $1,600 a year — Dr. Herrero, a longtime Spear client and early advisor on the project, asked to be among the first volunteers. Even though he had been involved with the foundation from the start, he admits there were a couple of things that surprised him.

A community energized

“First of all, I was just so impressed with the clinic itself,” Dr. Herrero said. “Often, in relief mission situations, you’re there with a lawn chair and a generator, trying to do the best you can with poor lighting in bad conditions. But this facility was better equipped than some practices I’ve seen back home. That says a lot about the support the foundation has received from the major dental equipment suppliers.”

Bringing quality dentistry to developing communities

It also says a lot about the dedication of the people in Peronia, considering the walls of the clinic had gone up literally just hours before Dr. Herrero arrived. And that’s another aspect of his visit that took him by surprise.

“There were probably about a hundred people from the neighborhood all over the site when we got there, working to get things ready for us to open, and so many volunteers were there continuing to work on things after the opening,” he said. “You kind of expect going in that the people you treat will be grateful, but I was really surprised at the excitement and level of involvement from people in the community as a whole. They brought us things like homemade tortillas and lunches to show their appreciation. Seeing how much this meant to them, and how much they wanted to help, was really quite moving. I’ll never forget it.”

Opening weekend was a “full house”

Dr. Glen Wysel, a partner in Spear Education, points out that a quality facility that could be adopted by the local community is exactly what the foundation had in mind. “We were very aware of the frustrations that other relief efforts have encountered,” he said. “You go in, you do a bunch of fillings and extractions, but you don’t come out really feeling that you’ve made a lasting difference. We want each of our projects to eventually become self-sustaining. That’s the only way we could see that made sense for the long term.”

Local residents have been keeping the chairs filled. The mayor has been an enthusiastic supporter, and the universities are eager to have their dental students get practical experience there. Within five years, the foundation will turn over the daily operation of the clinic to local interests and shift its focus to a new project in another part of the world.

To judge by Dr. Herrero’s experience, that long-sighted strategy is already paying off. “It makes a big difference in what you can do,” he said. “Normally, if you’re in a situation where you know the patient won’t have access to ongoing care, and you know there’s a chance a tooth may end up causing the person pain, your only realistic choice is extraction. But in this case, we know that the clinic will always be there for them, so we can be more heroic in trying to save a tooth. So we can honestly say these patients are already seeing the benefits of the long-term vision.”

One thousand plus one thousand equals one million

Ask Imtiaz Manji, the CEO of Spear Education who, along with Dr. Wysel and Dr. Frank Spear, was one of the leading forces behind the foundation’s vision.

“One thousand dentists, each donating $1,000 and one week of their time, could change the lives of up to a million people,” he says. “That’s our goal.” He’s confident they will achieve that. “The support we got from corporate sponsors and individual dentists, even before we had a facility up and running, was amazing. We simply would not have been able to do this without the generous support of Patterson Dental, A-Dec, Sirona, and other suppliers. And now that the first clinic is open — well, I’m just overwhelmed with gratitude for the people who have stepped forward to make it work.”

Dr. Wysel runs down the numbers. “In the first four months, we’ve already had 110 volunteers put in a week each, doing about $626,000 worth of dentistry on more than 1,200 patients. That’s a pretty impressive start.”

What’s also impressive is how the financial structure of the foundation is set up so that 100% of all donations from contributing dentists go right to the clinic. All infrastructure, equipment, and administration costs are covered by the partners at Spear and by industry donors. When dentists contribute their time and money, they know it’s going right to immediate patient care. It’s that purity of purpose, along with the knowledge they are building something lasting, that is inspiring so many dentists to be part of this revolution in dental philanthropy.

Then there is the fact that the foundation makes it very easy for dentists to participate. From the time they make the decision, everything is taken care of — travel arrangements to and from the airport and the clinic, accommodations at a charming hotel in nearby Antigua, even suggestions for cultural excursions on the weekend before or after their time at the clinic. As a result, many volunteer dentists are also taking the opportunity to share this unique experience by including family or team members.

Most dentists have a genuine desire to do as much good for as many people as possible — that’s the nature of the profession. And most people get a sense of real enrichment from being able to help others in a meaningful way — that’s part of what it means to be human. The Open Wide Foundation may be just the avenue for dentists who want to leave a lasting legacy, and want to experience the satisfaction of true giving.

In the words of Dr. Herrero, “I went just hoping to do what I could, and came back feeling tremendously fulfilled. The response from the townspeople, the camaraderie with your teammates, the sense that you’re a part of building something of great lasting value, you just get back so much more than you give. You can’t beat that feeling.”

Find out more about the Open Wide Foundation at speareducation.com/openwide or call 1-855-843-8444.