Local Dentist Provides Healthy Smiles, Treats Children in Guatemala

A local pediatric dentist recently returned from a humanitarian mission to Guatemala, where she provided free dental care to impoverished children.

Dr. Jamie Diament-Golub, who has offices in Westwood and Fort Lee, traveled with Kids International Dental Services, or “KIDS,” a team of healthcare professionals committed to bringing healthy smiles to every child in the world by providing dental care to children in developing countries.

Diament-Golub, an assistant clinical professor at Columbia University College of Dental Medicine, spent a week in Panajachel, a small community on Lake Atitlan, with a group of undergraduate dental students and other healthcare workers from local Mayan villages.

“The beauty of the country is remarkable. Majestic mountainous topography, lush cascading waterfalls, incredulous volcanoes and magnificent serene lakes sets the background for this colorful indigenous Mayan culture,” Diament-Golub said. “I have seen a lot of dental decay in my career. But I was so taken aback by these Mayan children.”

Tooth decay and cavities were rampant in the Guatemalan children Diament-Golub treated. The group set up makeshift clinics with dim lighting and limited running water in schools and community centers, using tables and chairs as operating facilities.

With the help of Mayan Families, a non-profit group in the Guatemalan highlands, KIDS treated hundreds of Mayan children, providing dental extractions and fillings and alleviating oral pain in children with no access to dental care of any kind, including toothbrushes. The doctors performed multiple primary teeth extractions—sometimes as many eight teeth at a time.

“Maybe it was the combination of the smell of the warm tortillas, the cackling of the rooster outside our pensions room door at 4 a.m., the brilliant, colorful Mayan costumes or just the beautiful, trusting look on these kids’ faces that got to me,” Diament-Golub said. “What was most impressive was the amount of smiling I saw and laughter that I heard. We were all warmly received and gladly welcomed by even the youngest and most anxious and apprehensive child.”

She called treating the children a “privilege.”

“Words can’t describe how rewarding it is,” Diament-Golub said. “It really was an experience of a lifetime.”

Diament-Golub has committed to participating annually in another mission trip to Jamaica with Health Care International. She says she also hopes to participate in a KIDS-sponsored trip to Cambodia next year.

Dr. Jamie Diament-Golub’s offices are located at 390 Old Hook Road in Westwood and 2185 Lemoine Ave. in Fort Lee.