Paynesville — As part of an effort to improve the well-being of oral healthcare services in Liberia, the Trinity Dental Clinic (TDC) under the ELWA Hospital, has made a significant extension of its dental clinic in Paynesville.
By Francis G. Boayue
The Trinity Dental Clinic over the weekend dedicated the extension of its newly built facility situated within the compound of the ELWA hospital.
Dr. Simon Stretton-Downes, Principal Dentist of TDC said the Dental Clinic has been established since 2008 to treat, teach and train 6, 000 patients a year since its establishment with a team of over 25 staff.
Recognizing full training in Liberia, he said the Clinic in 2022 through a partnership with Cuttington University has established the Trinity Dental school to decentralize dental healthcare by providing more training for more Liberians all across Liberia to train dental practitioners.
According to Dr. Simon, the first batch of Graduates from the Trinity Dental School is expected to graduate in June this year during the graduation of the Cuttington University in Suakoko, Bong County.
For her part, Dr. Romelle Horton, President of Cuttington University lauded the administration of the ELWA specifically the Trinity Dental Clinic for the smooth partnership with Cuttington to run the TDC which is expected to graduate its first batch of students this June.
She also assured to hire one of the students from the TDC’s first graduation to work with the Cuttington Campus clinic as a dental practitioner to service the community.
The Administrator of the ELWA hospital Rev. James Garway, in remarks, said over the years in rural Liberia, dental access considered to be witchcraft due to limited dental care services, adding that TDC has taken the lead in making dental care available and affordable by treating and training more Liberians into dental care.
Also speaking, the UK Ambassador to Mr. Neil Bradley, said the vision of establishing a dental healthcare school is impressive and the need for dental care remains an urgent need not just in Montserrado but also in all parts of Liberia.