Dr. Wallace Pon, team leader Heather Mohr and students Kayla Schofield, Kerri Hansen, Caitlin Goddard, Whitney Bergen and Sarah Gagnon – photo courtesy CNC

Prince George, B.C. – Five College of New Caledonia Dental Hygiene students and a local dentist had the experience of a lifetime this summer by providing humanitarian support to the Phillipines.

While there, they worked with the agency “Rise Above,” providing dental education, hygiene services, restorations, and extractions to over 1,000 school children and community members in Cebu.

“A lot of the students had never been out of the country and of course never had the opportunity to aid a humanitarian project,” said team leader Heather Mohr. “So it was really interesting for them, we met wonderful people and the interaction with the students was really wonderful to see.”

She said the need for dental services in the Phillipines was greatly needed.

“94 percent of the school-aged children in the Phillipines have tooth decay,” said Mohr. “And not just one or two teeth but many teeth are decayed. They are the number one consumer of soft drinks in the world. Education was a good portion of what we did.”

She said the trip lasted three weeks adding  the CNC Dental Hygiene program has run similar projects in Peru and Tanzania in the past.