Madison Dentist Volunteers at Clinic in Guatemala

Madison resident Dr. Sam Romano recently spent a week volunteering his dental services at a clinic in Guatemala.

The trip at the end of January was his second to the Central American country after making his first trip four years ago.

He said residents' dental hygiene there suffers because of a lack of running water for brushing and because soda is the most readily available beverage.

It was 95 degrees in the clinic. Some children lost molars they only had a few years. One man asked to keep a rotten tooth that was not particularly bothering him because it was his chewing tooth.

"You don't fly that far, and it's a whole different world," he said.

Romano and a contingent of dentists from around the U.S. and Canada made the trip. They pulled 225 broken, infected and decayed teeth the first day, Romano said in an update on his practice's Facebook page.

Reflecting on the trip the following week, he said it was a blur of "heat, noise and of course many teeth.

"If you want to begin to understand what you have, you need to spend time with those who have little or nothing," Romano wrote. "The Guatemalan children are living proof that you don’t need money to be happy."

One particularly cheerful boy returned on subsequent days and showed his appreciation for the dental care he received from Romano with a fist bump.

Romano said there are underserved residents closer to home. His practice has participated in Give Kids a Smile, a campaign of the American Dental Association to provide free dental care for children 12 and under. He said he might work with Zufall Health Center in the future.

"Everybody should find a way to give back," he said.