The 60,000 people who live in Comitancillo– an agricultural community outside of Guatemala City – have no access to basic health care and no means of transportation to get treatment. Dr. Shane Fisher, owner of The Kids Dentist LLC in Mequon, however, is doing his part to change that.
With the help of 21 volunteers from the U.S. and Canada, Fisher spent 12 days earlier this year in Comitancillo, where he saw more than 400 patients.
Fisher has been traveling to Comitancillo since 2004 to provide full-service dental care for the community. For the past seven years, Fisher has been organizing and leading these dental “mission” trips as U.S. director of Dentistry For All (DFA), an international non-profit, volunteer-run organization dedicated to improving access to oral health care.
“DFA does incredible work, and I’m honored to be a part of this organization,” Fisher said. “Dental care is a crucial part of maintaining your health, and everyone should have access to basic treatment.”
According to the World Health Organization, oral disease is more prevalent among poor, disadvantaged populations where public oral health programs are rare. Fisher and the DFA are working to resolve this issue by leading annual dental missions to Guatemala and Nicaragua. The DFA volunteers are dental students and dental specialists from all fields. The volunteers will treat anyone who needs care, and will provide complete comprehensive dental exams and treatment, including cleanings, fillings, crowns, root canals and extractions.
In addition to leading annual dental missions, Fisher is helping to establish two permanent dental clinics in Guatemala. In 2009, he moved to Guatemala for a year to help begin the process of opening the first clinic in Comitancillo. The clinic opened in 2010 and functions year-round with education and prevention programs. Fisher leads two mission trips a year to this location, and his team of volunteers help staff the clinic, which is supported by other professional volunteer groups throughout the year as well.
To further aid the community of Comitancillo, The Kids Dentist recently partnered with two local schools, Milwaukee Jewish Day School and St. Adalbert Elementary School, for a shoe drive that collected about 500 pairs of new or lightly used children’s shoes.
Fisher also volunteers with projects in the Milwaukee area such as screening programs and Wisconsin’s Mission of Mercy each June.
