Some Cool Links

Click HERE to see a video report of the Cobra Gold MEDCAP in Thailand. I even get a speaking part. No HERE! (And if you haven't visited for a while, look at the rest of my Thailand Posts).

Here is an excerpt from the Army Website:
KANCHANABURI PROVINCE, Thailand (Feb. 1, 2010) – U.S. Air Force dentist, Capt. Douglas W, a pediatric dentist assigned to the 35th Dental Squadron, Misawa, Japan, pulls the tooth of a child at the first Medical Civic Assistance Program site at the Baan Kroeng Kra Reaon School, in the Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand, in support of Exercise Cobra Gold 2010, Feb. 1. This was the first of seven MEDCAP sites scheduled throughout the course of the exercise. The MEDCAP sites will bring together doctors, dentists and veterinarians from the armed forces of Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, the Republic of Korea, Thailand and the United States. Cobra Gold is a regularly scheduled joint and coalition multinational exercise hosted annually by the Kingdom of Thailand. This year marks the 29th anniversary for the exercise, which consists of a Global Peacekeeping Operations Initiative Exercise, Command Post Exercise, H/CA projects and field training exercises. (Photo by U.S. Army Master Sgt. Christina Bhatti-Madden)


Also, Go here to vote for St Joseph Hospital to win a grant from Tom's of Maine for the pediatric dental clinic! That's where I was training to be the Pediatric Dentist Extraordinaire that I am today! (You can vote once a day if you'd like)

Cobra Gold Endex

I am writing this blog at the Starbucks at the Bangkok Airport waiting for Em. My heart keeps leaping every time I see someone that might be her, even though the last one was Asian and was holding a child. I’m a little jumpy after the crazy taxi rides I’ve had today. I assume the plane that arrived from Tokyo is hers despite the different arrival time and different flight number since the one on her itinerary doesn’t seem to exist.

Today we did half a days work at our last site since we had to high tail it to Bangkok today. Most people are leaving early tomorrow morning. It was the wrong day to cut short, especially for dental. I took out more teeth on my first patient (8) then I did all day yesterday!! My assistant May, Pim my interpreter and I have been doing tooth brushing instructions each morning for all the patients waiting to be triaged and seen. Today’s was a lot of fun. There were a lot of kids that came over to listen. They all laughed when during the brush your tongue demo. I guess I have a rather large tongue and my tech keeps making me show them and laughing! A lady yesterday visibly flinched when I showed them. Good things my self-confidence is made of steel!

While in doing one of these oral hygiene instructions this morning I saw a kid that didn’t look well and had a large swelling. I brought him over afterwards and his teeth were just horrible. I thought the swelling/asymmetry was due to an abscess but it turned out not to be tooth related. The parents claimed it was since birth, along with a history of hydrocephaly. I’m still not sure what is the cause or what it is. I took out four rotted teeth, but didn’t see a dental cause for the englarged area, neither did the physicians. Any ideas?

When we got back to the hotel, I had forgotten how nice it was!, we headed out to the night market. It was pretty cool with lots of cool stuff to buy. I thought I am in trouble if I bring Em here. So I’ll have to make sure she doesn’t know about it! =)

She’s here!!!! Buy!

Here are some of my Singaporean friends. They were two of the many great people I became friends with and worked with.

P.S. The pool party was lots of fun last night! I think we ended up throughing in about 15 people. How many people can say they threw a Thai Army Colonel into a pool and lived to tell about it! Thanks Colonel Pete!!!