One Tooth At a Time.

By Carter Keefe

Photo credit: YS Team

When you think of the word dentist, you probably remember going as a child and never looking forward to sitting in the chair!

Many of us take dental care for granted. In Papua New Guinea, there are 100,000 people per dentist, which means they will never see one in their lifetime. Dentists are typically in major cities, far from village life.  This leads to severe tooth decay and chronic pain, leaving many people unable to eat without suffering.

Brett Curtis, President/CEO of YWAM Ships Kona, was part of the first outreach to Papua New Guinea aboard the M/V YWAM Liberty. He shared this about the dental ministry then:

“The number of people in line, patiently waiting, with such hope in their hearts, to finally have a tooth removed, and be free of pain.”

He continued:

“I’ve seen people who had been living with abscessed teeth for months… and they live with it that way. An infection without antibiotics can absolutely threaten a life.  It can trigger so many other health complications if left unchecked.

The goal of the dental ministry in Papua New Guinea is more than just treating teeth. It’s about being present with people—taking time with each patient and showing them care and compassion. It is what we do.

Dr. Joan Fox, a volunteer on the medical team, was working on two children when their father asked if she could look at his mouth.

“His mouth was really bad off…” Joan said. “I had to tell him that we had to take multiple teeth out, but one of them would probably expose his sinus because he had no bone.”

In Papua New Guinea, there is a seed that people grind up and chew called betelnut. Betelnut is known to produce a high, and suppress appetite, but it also decays teeth and causes oral cancer.

Joan continued:

“He’d been chewing betelnut and was trying to stop because he knew it caused cancer… but there just wasn’t a lot of bone or gum left in his mouth—it was all eroded.”

The man was estimated to be only in his 30s.

As Dr. Joan examined his mouth, she noticed a chronic infection caused by the betelnut. As she began to work on him, she prayed to God that there would be no complications in a case as severe as his. Joan pulled the tooth, irrigated the area, and stitched him up.

“God completely delivered for us,” she said.

By His grace, there were no complications, and God healed the man’s mouth. But that wasn’t the only time God was at work in this ministry.

Brett recalls a day where kindness made a bigger impact than we could possibly have imagined.  Dr. Cobis, a South African dentist, was in his clinic, working on patients, when a mother brought in her eight-year-old son.

“The boy had fallen off his bike a few weeks ago,” said Brett. “His face was so swollen and infected—and with no antibiotics, it was rapidly getting worse.”

When it was finally the boy’s turn, he refused to get in the chair.

“He did not want to be there,” Brett said. “He refused to move an inch and wouldn’t Dr. Cobus anywhere  near his mouth.” He winced whenever a hand came near; he was in such pain.

So Dr. Cobus sat down on the floor with him. He talked with him, played with him for a while, took his time, and let him play with his flashlight. Eventually, he won the boy over. He cleaned his lip and face, got him into the chair, and worked on him for a couple of hours.

After the procedure, the boy’s jawline, lip, and face were all restored. Dr. Covis looked over and saw the mother on the ground, sobbing.

He asked, “What’s wrong?”

She said, “I have never seen anyone show such tenderness and patience to my boy. You are a very kind person!”

Brett added:

“That ended up being enough for her to ask some really deep questions about God. And she ended up coming to Christ that day because someone took time to be kind.”

It’s easy to view these missions simply as ways to help people who are less fortunate—and while that’s certainly a good thing, it’s about much more.

These outreaches are about showing the love of Jesus to people and making Him known—one tooth and one act of kindness at a time.