Army dental technician changing lives in Vietnam
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Army dental technician, Corporal Rhiannon Farley, has earned praise for her work with Vietnamese people as part of Pacific Partnership 2012.
Corporal Farley, from the Enoggera-based 2 General Health Battalion, is currently serving on Pacific Partnership 2012 with a multi-national dental team onboard the US Navy hospital ship USNS Mercy.
Corporal Farley’s role also includes working on medical civic action projects in regional communities in Vietnam.
It is at these clinics that she sees a different world of dentistry.
“At home I normally see military members who get checked every year so they only need relatively minor dental work,” Corporal Farley said.
“Here I’m seeing things that are more extreme.
“We’re mainly providing basic extractions because the teeth are just too decayed to be restored.
“We also help by providing oral health awareness. Many of the locals don’t have an understanding of the importance of the need to brush and floss.
“We provide every patient with toothpaste, toothbrushes and dental floss along with instructions on how to use them.”
A big factor in the success of the dental clinics is the ability of the international team to win the trust of the community soon after they arrive at each site.
“It’s been very daunting for the Vietnamese as a lot of them have never seen a dentist before,” Corporal Farley said.
“So at first the locals were hesitant to see us. On my first day at a new field clinic we only saw five patients. By the end of our time at the clinic we were seeing 30 to 40 patients a day.
“This was probably due to word of mouth within the community reassuring each other that they would have a positive experience if they came to see us.
“At the end they were so grateful for the work we did, they were happy to get treatment.”
The US Navy-led Pacific Partnership is the largest annual humanitarian and civic assistance effort in the Asia – Pacific region.
More than 1000 military and non-government organisation professionals are providing free medical, dental, engineering and veterinary projects alongside participating host nations to help create a regional capability to respond to natural disasters.