Making a difference in Vietnam

This year Dr Ross Napoli and Dr Alan Fassina had an extraordinary opportunity to work with the long-established Australian Vietnam Volunteers Resource Group (AVVRG) in the Dental Care team at Long Tan. The area is periodically visited by Australian dentists who assist locals with dental care. The provision of dental care and dental hygiene education is a low priority matter in Vietnam. Also, the ready availability of sugary sweets in Vietnam results in a very high rate of dental caries in children.

In conjunction with Ba Ria – Vung Tau Health Department, the dental care team is currently pursuing an oral health care program in the region. The availability of portable dental equipment enabled the team to travel to the children in Ba Ria Orphanage and the disability centre in Vung Tau.

In this trip, Dr Ross Napoli and Dr Alan Fassina also provided treatment at the disability centre in Vung Tau, where many of the residents are disabled with a large proportion of them blind. The team were kindly assisted by 2 local medical doctors who also donated their time and acted as translators, assistants and guides.

Last but not least, the team spent some time paying their respects to the fallen in the region. Particularly, the Australian soldiers who notably lost their lives in the Battle of Long Tan. The Long Tan Cross is situated at the Battle site “it was both a humbling experience and a pleasure to be of assistance to the lovely people of Vietnam” said Dr Ross Napoli.

The South Australian Dental Care Team of the AVVRG would like to thank Single Use Dental Instruments for their help donating the instruments which were used for treatments.

Learn more about how you can contribute to the Australian Vietnam Volunteers Resource Group here.

If you would like to find out more about the other charities and organisations we work with, you can view these on our Charities page.