As part of the training I've received during this fellowship I had the opportunity to learn some dental skills, namely, dental extractions. It was a very enjoyable part of the training, because it is a gratifying procedure, you get to learn dental blocks, and you help patients feel better almost immediately. However, I haven't had the opportunity yet to use those newly acquired skills here at Tenwek. That is, until now.
Let's rewind to last Friday, on the last day of the CMDA Brackenhurst conference. I attended a lecture entitled "Management of Mandibular Fractures". This was a lecture/workshop given by Tim Bartholomew, an oral maxillofacial surgeon that is a long-term missionary in Africa. We had actually met before, at the WVU tropical medicine course. He gave a great lecture on maxillomandibular fixation, and then we got to play with some model teeth and practice wiring them.
Now fast forward to Monday, I'm back at Tenwek, rounding with the surgical team, when we come across a patient that had been stabbed in the face/neck during an assault. He had been taken urgently to the theatre to make sure no blood vessels had been damaged. As we were discussing him, the attending said, "Oh, by the way, this guy has a mandibular fracture, our dentist is out of town, can anyone fix that?"
"...Sure!"
One of the PAACS residents, Dr. Arega and I took the patient to the dental clinic. Dr. Arega -- who actually has had some experience wiring someone's mouth before (and not just on a model) -- let me do pretty much everything, which included local anesthesia to the entire mouth, placing and wiring on the arch bars, reducing the fracture, and wiring the arch bars together. This will have to stay on about three weeks. In the meantime, he'll have to eat through a straw.
I was able to talk to him after the procedure (which, by the way, is a horrible time to talk to someone when you've just wired their jaw shut). We talked about the circumstances regarding his stabbing, and about God's grace, how Jesus can heal and forgive us of our sins, and give us the power to forgive others, including those that have hurt us.
He smiled, pointed up to the sky, and through clenched teeth said, "Jesus". He didn't seem to hold any animosity toward the person that had done this to him. Which made me think how I would react if someone stabbed me in the face? I don't think it would be exactly how Jesus commands in Matthew 5:39:
But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.
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Strong work!
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