The Face of Dental Pain

These pictures were taken by a Mercy Ships photographer at one of our recent screenings.  We screen every Monday and Thursday morning and the line is pretty much always the same.

Line starts forming 1-2 hours before we arrive.  Security Volunteers keep things organized

Men,Women, and Children are separated for safety

My Team Leader, Sieh, is an expert.  He will screen all these people in 20-30 minutes.

Bangaly, one of our Day Worker interpreters explains the procedure so everybody knows what will happen

Have you ever had a tooth ache?

Soldiers who have been shot, say it is like being shot in the mouth.

The pain lasts anywhere from several days to a couple of weeks.

The only thing that hurts worse than doing nothing is touching anything.

Sometimes the pain goes away and then comes back every couple of months.

Sometimes your face swells.

Children particularly have a hard time understanding why the pain just won't go away.

Have you ever had a toothache?

Then you stand in line all day to see a free dentist.

And then there is hope that your pain can go away.

This is the Mercy Ships Dental team.  Some are here for only a short time, some are here the entire 10 months.  We come from many nations, but with one purpose.  We are who God sent to heal the pain.