Wed, Dec 26, 2018 page2

• Mobile dentist serves rural villages

  • By Tsai Shu-yuan and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer
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  A dentist in Nantou County has made a name for himself with his unconventional way of reaching patients: a mobile clinic.

  Dentist Wang Yu-kun (王佑崑), 56, left his practice in Taichung 30 years ago when he moved to Nantou’s Sinyi District (信義) and began treating patients out of a converted van.

  Wang, who takes to the mountains in his mobile clinic five or more days per week and makes the rounds of all the nearby villages, said he hopes to put off retirement until all the children in the county have healthy and beautiful teeth.

  

  Dentist Wang Yu-kun treats a patient on a wheelchair bed installed in his converted mobile clinic in Nantou County on Dec. 13.

  Photo: Tsai Shu-yuan, Taipei Times

  To build his mobile clinic, Wang purchased a van and refitted it with a dental chair, a cup filler and rinse bowl, an equipment cabinet, an X-ray machine and everything else you would typically find in a dental clinic.

  Last year, Wang’s schedule was so hectic that it contributed to his having a heart attack, but the experience did not shake his resolve, he said.

  Witnessing their father’s passion for helping patients, Wang’s son and daughter went on to study medicine and vow to help people in remote communities.

  

  Dentist Wang Yu-kun, left, poses with one of his child patients at Luona Elementary School in Nantou County’s Sinyi Township on Dec. 13.

  Photo: Tsai Shu-yuan, Taipei Times

  Only planning to stay in Nantou until his children were old enough to start elementary school, Wang said that frequent disasters, beginning with the 921 Earthquake in 1999, interspersed with major typhoons kept him busy in the county.

  “[During disasters] everyone is stuck here. We all cook together and sleep together on the sports grounds. This place has become an important part of our lives — I can’t let that go,” he said.

  Early every morning, Wang and his wife, Wu Chiung-fen (吳瓊芬), head down to the public health center before making rounds that take them to the communities of Luona (羅娜), Jioumei (久美), Sinsiang (新鄉), Dongpu (東埔) and Fongciou (豐丘), where they park at elementary schools to receive patients.

  From their mobile clinic, Wang and Wu administer flouride treatments, treat tooth decay and conduct endodontic therapy, also known as root canal therapy.

  Wang has paid out of his own pocket so that children from disadvantaged families could have a dental crown or their teeth straightened.

  Once he straightened the teeth of a girl from an abusive family, hoping that the procedure would give her renewed confidence in herself.

  He also crowned the teeth of a boy who had lacked proper nutrition and whose teeth were badly damaged from cavities.

  Despite having overworked himself last year, Wang said he really enjoys working in the mountain communities.

  Seeing teenagers go off to university and later return to serve their communities makes him happy, Wang said.
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