Teaching in Tanzania: Inside an African Dental School

10835462_1560222404248901_5891833157899608018_o Pediatric Dentistry Chair Christopher Hughes with students at Tanzania's only dental school.

The African nation of Tanzania has 45 million citizens and one dental school, according to Christopher Hughes, chair of the Department of Pediatric Dentistry. “It  only graduates 25 students a year,’’ said Hughes.

Last month, he travelled to Tanzania to teach as part of Health Volunteers Overseas, which works to improve global health through education. Hughes spent two weeks at Muhimbili Unversity of Health and Allied Science, sharing his clinical and academic knowledge.

Although preventive care is often scarce in poor communities in the U. S. and abroad, that was especially true in Tanzania, he said. “They don’t have appointments, it’s all just emergency care.’’

Most Tanzanians seeking dental care are treated by “dental therapists,’’ who can extract teeth and do basic restorative work. But they refer more complex cases to a licensed dentist or clinics at the university. Patients at Muhimbili often travelled long distances, sometimes after receiving failed treatment from traditional healers . “Some are slow to seek Western medical care,’’ Hughes explained. In the university’s pediatric clinic, he saw severe facial infections that were a result of untreated  caries.  “In Tanzania, the consequences of caries are far more severe,’’ said Hughes.

Dental school in Tanzania lasts five years.  The students, straight from high school, spend three years studying medical school curriculum and two years performing clinical work in oral healthcare.  Six months are devoted to learning each specialty before they start year-long internships. Many join practices in large cities.  Faculty oversight in the clinics is much less involved than it is in the U.S. “When I was there, they really appreciated having someone to answer questions and offer guidance,’’ said Hughes.