In response to my request for help in the field of dentistry, Penny Brady of Santa Barbara contacted her dentist friend, Chuck Renn, who has since taken great interest in my project, and on my last trip south, Chuck took the trouble to instruct me, briefly, in the basics of tooth extraction, including oral anesthesia. He also provided me with the basic tools and a text on oral surgery, and a goodly supply of disposable needles and carbocaine cartridges. When I got back to the villages, I proceeded on to firmer teeth. To date, I have extracted over sixty teeth. I have run into no major complications, although I have had occasional problems with root breakage, and have had to improvise makeshift elevators. On my last trip to California, I stopped in again at Santa Bárbara, and Chuck Renn arranged for me to observe tooth extraction in a nearby oral surgery clinic. The tooth surgeons and their nurses were particularly friendly, carefully answered my questions in the course of the extractions, and presented me with a set of elevators, the tools which I most needed.

I would be delighted if a dentist his services in the villages id only for a dew days. The dental needs and resultant suffering are enormous.

What I can do gently, is still, of course, quite limited. I am unable to do any drilling and filling. I would be delighted if a dentist his services in the villages if only for a dew days. The dental needs and resultant suffering are enormous. One curious case recently, was the girl who had an ulcerous sore at the angle of her jaw, which Dr. Bock feared was scrophularia (tuberculosis). The ulcer which had had resisted all treatment for several months, cleared up completely after a rotten tooth was extracted. I am very grateful to Dr. Renn and his colleagues for affording me the chance to ameliorate at least some of the suffering due to infected teeth.