Doug Leung Photo: Melody Ko

Do-It-Yourself Dentistry

Home Depot’s catchphrase—“You can do it. We can help”—would not be a bad slogan for the nonprofit that Doug Leung, A78, D81, founded in 2006. The organization, called Medical Dental Community Groups (www.mdcg.org), is teaching volunteers in impoverished regions of Southeast Asia how to perform basic dental tasks such as exams and cleanings, simple fillings, applying fluoride and sealants, and offering home-care instruction.

The volunteers can then treat their neighbors, many of whom need all the dental care they can get. In Vietnam, for example, the World Health Organization has found that more than 80 percent of six-year-olds suffer from tooth decay, compared with about half of American kids that age. “You can see when you travel that many people in their twenties have missing front teeth and rampant caries,” Leung says.

So far, 22 Vietnamese volunteers have undergone training. Leung has pared down a dental tool kit to just headlamps, some hand instruments, composite material, and a light curing wand. He tinkered with jury-rigged headrests, but they proved difficult to carry on the motorcycles commonly used to get around in Vietnam. School chairs and benches cushioned with pillows have worked just fine.

By training locals, Medical Dental Community Groups leaves a permanent legacy behind. And the practice neatly avoids language barriers and cultural misunderstandings. It offers a better model than most foreign aid, according to Leung. “When we hear about natural disasters, people go in to help. But the need persists after the outside aid stops. I want the locals to continue to have leadership over the program and their destiny.”

Leung’s likely next stop is the Philippines. He has been invited to establish homegrown dental programs in areas where many people live on top of garbage mounds on infertile land. Working with the aid organization International Care Ministries, he hopes to bring a group of volunteers to the island nation in January 2009. He also hopes to launch dental programs in Haiti, Cambodia, and Myanmar. Aid groups in China have expressed an interest in his work as well.

That’s about all the encouragement he needs. “I would go wherever there are poor people,” he says. “We just want to help as many people as we can.”