Hospital Bienfaisance 
de Pignon
 
Teaching Haitian dental laboratory technician trainees.
Dental care has been available at the hospital in Pignon from its very beginning. One of the original board members of the mission was the late Dr. Robert Smith, a dentist from Jacksonville, Arkansas. His name is the first one listed in the Pignon Guest House sign-in registry in the original log. For a number of years only simple dental treatment procedures, primarily extractions, could be offered. The dental clinic consisted of a room also used as a hospital storage room. Often, dental teams set up out in the courtyard to do their extractions due to the heat, and because of better light conditions.

In 1989 Dr. Jean Petit, a dentist from Cap Haitian, began working in the clinic. In 1990 the Haiti Ministry of Health furnished him a mobile dental clinic mounted in the back of a pickup truck. At this time he could now do simple fillings and cleanings, along with extractions. He set his mobile clinic up in the courtyard of the hospital in Pignon, as well as in other towns in the district.

In 1989 Dr. Larry Griffin, an orthodontist from West Memphis, Arkansas started going to Pignon with West Memphis mission teams. After several years of primarily doing extractions he recognized the need for a regular dental clinic so normal dental care could be made available to the people in the Pignon area. He raised money for constructing and equipping the present dental clinic building, a modern three-chair clinic, which was opened in 1993. Dr. Petit became head of the dental clinic and now spends most of his time working in the Pignon clinic.
Dr. Marvin Loyd teaching Dr. Claudine Wainright, a recent graduate of the Haiti Dental School, how to use a
filling material.
Currently Dr. Petit operates one of the more modern dental clinics in Haiti, where a variety of dental care is available. Usually he has a young dental resident working with him. Upon graduation from dental school in Haiti, the new graduate has to serve a one-year "social service" residency in a charity or government clinic before he/she can be licensed for private practice. The Pignon dental clinic is approved for this. This social service resident spends much of his/her time working with the local schools on a children’s dental health program, where the emphasis is placed on prevention. The children are given an oral examination, furnished with a toothbrush, toothpaste and dental floss. They are given oral health instructions, their teeth are cleaned, and needed treatment is performed in the way of extractions and fillings, all free of charge.

In 1997 the Christian Dental Society selected the Pignon clinic to be the proto type for their first mission dental laboratory program. Their related Association of Christian Dental Laboratory Technicians, working in conjunction with Dr. Petit and U. S. supporting dentists, furnished the equipment for setting up the lab. Currently three young Haitians are receiving training from them on operating the dental lab. They are able to make full and partial dentures, as well as do some limited crown and bridge work.
Today the dental program is being operated very successfully, and, most importantly, entirely by Dr. Petit and his local Haitian staff. U. S. support primarily is technical, furthering their training and furnishing equipment and supplies. Patients are charged by their ability to pay, with none turned away in pain. These fees collected cover only a small part of the cost of operating the dental clinic. Contributions from U.S. dentists, churches and charitable organizations help make up the difference. Most dental supplies come from the World Dental Relief mission warehouse.

Further information about the Dental Program can be obtained from:
Dr. Jim Birong, DDS
Dental Coordinator
Dr. Jean Petit, DDS
Dental Clinic Director
Hôpital Bienfaisance
Pignon, Haiti
E-mail:
Dr. Guy D. Theodore | Comite de Bienfaisance de Pignon | Pignon, Haiti
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