Two weeks after he officially became a dentist Alex Fay got on a plane for Guatemala.He wasn’t there for the sun and the sand his aim was to provide dental care to the needy.The 31-year-old and his father James Fay joined three other dentists linked with the Open Wide Foundation.They travelled to Peronia, a city of about 85,000 people, as part of the event organised by the Spear Institute in Scottsdale, Arizona.The trip came just months after Dr Fay graduated from Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, and weeks after he started his career.“I practised for two weeks and then it was off to Guatemala,” he said. “It was a shock for me because I hadn’t been working for that long. It was a lot of work.“We saw between eight and 12 patients a day between 9am and 3.30pm on a usual day here in Bermuda you would probably see six patients.”Canadian Brian Latwaitis and Jim Sanfilippo and Mike Johnson from the United States joined the Fays on the trip.Together the group saw a total of 125 patients between the ages of six and 75. Many of them had to have fillings and extractions and most had never seen a trained dentist before.The area had a ‘dental mechanic’, who had been taught basic skills from his father, who learned it from his grandfather, Dr Fay explained.It was the first time Dr Fay had visited a developing country. At time he found it a little daunting. For their own safety, he said the dentists had to leave the clinic before 4pm to avoid driving through the area after dark.“I have done a lot of travelling to Europe, the US, and Canada, but I had never been anywhere as adventurous as this so it was a bit of a culture shock.“After the first day, once we got used to where we were staying and met some people, it was a really rewarding experience because the people were so welcoming to us.”He had some preconceived notions about what the experience would be like but said the dental work wasn’t as challenging as he had anticipated.“When I was going into it because of the poverty level that is out there, I was thinking we would see a lot of decay and gingivitis, but I was surprised.“I was expecting a lot worse, but because of the low sugar intake that is not something a lot of those people have access to because it’s not something they can afford. There were cases that were worse than others, but for the most part it was just because the people there didn’t have a dentist.”Days when the team weren’t working they got to go sightseeing and even met the mayor’s wife, which was “a big deal”, according to Dr Fay. He said it was also rewarding having a chance to make a difference in people’s lives.“We saw a lot of people and we helped a lot of people,” he said. “The people of Guatemala are very, very particular about their smiles so there was a lot of focus on saving the teeth and the smile line and making sure everyone looked very nice.“I did a couple of cases where younger girls had decay all through their front teeth and [where we had to do] root canals because the decay was into the nerve. Then the restorative dentist would do the fillings and make sure it all came together.“It was incredible and all of us walked away feeling we wanted to go back and we will.”Dr Fay said it was particularly special to do it along with his father, who was one of his inspirations when deciding to get into the profession.“[Dentistry] was always something I knew growing up. My dad is a dentist and I was always around it and when I started to go through school and university and working here [at Paget Dental Clinic] in the summers and more as an adult I realised it was actually something I wanted to do, not just something that was there because my dad did it.“I have really enjoyed working here so far. Working with dad is great.”Dr Fay said he had always hoped to take a trip like this throughout medical school and plans to make volunteering a regular part of his practice.“We are planning on doing something like this next year. My wife [Marie] is an occupational therapist and it’s one of her dreams to do one of these volunteer programmes somewhere.”The Open Wide Foundation facilitates the efforts of dentists who want to spend a week working in its clinic in Latin America. Its mission is to provide basic dentistry in a community and gain those individuals trust and respect, as well as ending the cycle of poverty.Useful website: www.speareducation.com/openwide