Chialsa Sept2025

Dr John Denton and Jude allsopp returned for their 8th visit despite all the difficulties.

Our arrival at Chailsa was somewhat delayed, due to the road being washed away again! This was the same break in the main road which stranded us in Chailsa last year 2024.  

Next day our student assistants were ready for us and had unpacked the chairs and dental units and were raring to go! We attended school morning assembly first and were warmly welcomed by Headmaster Pemba and the teaching staff and students.

The first part of our clinic was devoted to training the new student assistants by role playing their activities while examining their teeth. It worked well and we settled into a routine that seemed to work.

Dipesh a 20 something volunteer at the Monastery was our point man on computer and patient rounding up duties. He was our go to man for getting things done.

We had a number of days with power issues, both wide spread and local. Many hours of productive time in the clinic lost. We called the electrician a couple of times to up grade the fuse in the fuse box in the Gompa, with limited success. 

It was school sports day(s) again while we were there. We were expected to attend as special guest and present medals. It was a treat and great fun. Getting bigger every year, like the Olympics.

We were very happy with the result of seeing some 220 patients at Chailsa. This included 63 new students at the school. The student body now topping some 296.

The dental health of the students, continues to improve. The use of silver fluoride is a game changer. More students present with no problems and those that have issues tend to be small fillings. There are of course exceptions and we are pleased to be there to address some of them. We gave out some 300 tooth brushes and tooth paste. 

We look forward to going again next year our 9^th visit. We are very grateful for Chris Hodge and Lesley Kemp helping us at Chailsa with their visits in April each year. We make a good team and together make a difference at Chailsa.

Jude Allsopp and John Denton