

Following a long drive to Trincomalee, we attended the Pattalpuram school and screened all the children. In the afternoon we set up clinic at the Methodist Church and screened the 3-4 year olds. There were 18 children in this nursery and 50% decay of their deciduous teeth. The children and adults in this area have been displaced due to war three times. This community is extremely impoverished with no public transport and no dental facilities for 15 miles. The inhabitants must walk this distance if they need dental care. They gain their living from local subsistence farming or collecting honey. There were several thousand women widowed during the war and some of these women do craftwork or take on small jobs to earn a living. Many of the fathers live and work in Colombo at the cement factory. In these communities it is common to use home remedies for pain relief – often herbs for bleeding gums or betel nut paan to take away pain.


