NSU CDM Impressions Fall/Winter 2019

14 | COLLEGE OF DENTAL MEDICINE What makes a student forgo the beach, movies, and friends during summer break and instead go on an unpaid outreach trip to Central America or the Carib- bean? The members of the Dental Missions Club at NSU’s College of Dental Medicine (CDM) think it’s the best way to spend time off. Fourth-year dental student Melissa Batres was inspired to join the missions club by her experience growing up “in a very small town in El Salvador, very much like the areas we go to in the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica,” she said. While she was taught to brush her teeth, “I didn’t know about the real importance of oral health, and there weren’t any dentists in the towns nearby. The club gave me the opportunity to change that for other people with similar backgrounds,” said Batres, who is the current president of the Dental Missions Club. Grateful for the chance to become a dentist herself, she said, “I want to use that to give back to others. My first outreach trip definitely showed me that I can give back through dentistry.” And Batres didn’t stop there. Her most recent trip, to Costa Rica, was her third, after two trips to the Dominican Republic. In Costa Rica, she was part of a group that included 14 other students and 3 faculty members—Diane Ede-Nichols, D.M.D., M.H.L., M.P.H.; Rashondia W. Gaines, D.D.S., M.S.; and dental hygienist Gilberte Joseph. “We all worked together so well and helped each other. We really came together as a team and were able to pro- vide quality dental care to 520 patients,” said Batres, point- ing out that this was done in just four and a half days. The CDM’s Dental Missions Club does three service trips a year. During 2019, members were in the DENTAL MISSIONS CLUB OFFERS HEALTH CARE BY JOHN DOLEN MISSION Finding Their