Children given free sports mouthguards
By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Health Writer
When 12-year-old Christian Gentry heard that dentists were offering to fit students for free sports mouthguards, he volunteered right away.
Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser
"You don't want to go walking around all ugly," the Washington Middle School seventh-grader said of the risk of getting hit in the mouth by a basketball.
Dentist Melvin Choy fits 15-year-old Albert Welly of Chinatown for a sports mouthguard during the National Children's Dental Access Day at the Boys and Girls Club's clubhouse in McCully. Local dentists volunteered their services to people in need.
Gentry was among 40 or more children who received the custom mouthguards from the Dental Samaritans, a group of local dentists who volunteer their services to provide dental care to people in need.
Dentists Melvin Choy, Brent Ching and George Wessberg participated in the mouthguard event this month at the Boys and Girls Club's Charles C. Spalding Clubhouse in McCully.
Wessberg, a dentist and oral surgeon, was one of the founding members of Dental Samaritans, which since 2001 has worked with the Hawai'i Dental Association to link volunteers with community organizations.
"(Age) 6 to 9 is very vulnerable to getting their front teeth knocked out," said Wessberg, who said his front teeth were "bashed in" while playing baseball at age 12. Much of his work is in educating people about the risks to children who are biking, playing soccer, roller skating, playing most ball sports and even doing martial arts and gymnastics.
Dr. Glenn Kaneda, coordinator of Dental Samaritans, said 63 dentists are registered with the volunteer program. They provide a variety of services, such as helping monthly in clinics, helping with education programs or special events days.
Kaneda said 29 members also donated about $11,000 to various projects.
Choy volunteers to do the guards as part of his community outreach through the Hawaii Academy for Sports Dentistry. The academy is an organization of Hawai'i dental professionals working to treat and prevent dental injuries linked to playing sports.
Choy said the custom-molded mouthguards are far superior to the boil-and-bite mouthguards available in sporting goods stores. For more information, visit the academy's Web site at www.sportskids.net/HASD.
The organization has offered to make the mouthguards with the help of volunteer dentists for a token lab fee of $10 (the fee was waived for the Boys and Girls Club). The market price of such a mouthguard would be closer to $75 or $100, he said.
For 8-year-old Kianalei Machida, having a guard will let her play basketball without worrying about getting hurt. The Noelani Elementary School third-grader said it was worth biting into the sticky, clay-like substance "so that the ball won't hit your teeth and bleed."
Dr. Russell Masunaga, another founder of the Samaritans group, volunteers regularly at Aloha Medical Mission. The Kalihi-based dentist feels that many of his colleagues share the feeling that community outreach is an important role for dentists.
One case that stood out for him involved a Vietnam veteran "who was basically homeless," Masunaga said. Even though he qualified for veterans' medical/dental benefits, he refused that care.
"He was so afraid of the system," Masunaga said. "He was caught up in whatever internal prison was keeping him homeless."
But the veteran felt comfortable seeing Masunaga and the others who were volunteering at homeless shelter at Institute for Human Services. "We were a venue that he felt safe in," Masunaga said.
Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2429.
