Asia: China

Our China dental group has organized and conducted 18 humanitarian trips to China led by different dentists among us.  They are always a combination of teaching, free treatment, and absorbing the culture.  A map shows the main cities we have been to: Xian, Suqian, Guilin, and Chengdu — but there are some others. We are invited to use existing dental clinics and local leaders bring us indigent patients, in exchange for what we do and the goodwill it creates.  Some venues are private clinics and others are government facilities.  Of course, with some recent political changes, we may not be as popular any more. We have treated up to 600 patients on trips and had informational exchanges with many Chinese professional colleagues. We think that it is because of our influence that several of the facilities we have visited now have organized their own projects to treat the poor and needy.  We are often off the tourist ‘beaten track’ into remote areas normal foreigners never see. We had to cancel the 30 participants scheduled for April 2020 in Guilin and Shenzhen but hope to do it in April 2021 – probably with a smaller group. We take dentists, hygienists, dental assistants, and other support personnel. Sometimes after a trip we have some of our Chinese friends visit us in the US. As with these kinds of trips to other countries, they can be rewarding and life-changing. Dr. Karl Koerner. karlrkoerner@comcast.net