I-Dent
Every once in a while in the health care industry an unqualified imposter poses as a qualified professional. The movie, ‘Catch Me If You Can’ told such a story. I read of a similar situation in which an imposter was caught. The authorities and many other people were outraged at the risk the impersonator exposed his patients to.
But, surprisingly, many of his patients stood by him. They were incredulous that he had acquired his knowledge reading medical texts outside of medical school. Some agitated for him to be licensed.
All other things being equal, would you rather be treated by a medical school qualified doctor or a medical textbook junkie? I know your answer. I would choose the same.
But, what if you were in a terrible traffic accident out in the country and someone you loved was lying on the road bleeding, unconscious and not breathing. If someone showed up in that situation who had no medical license, but who had studied medical textbooks and knew what needed to be done, would you want to wait for a qualified doctor? Me either.
It is impossible to train anyone to be a dentist in a few weeks or even a few months. It is critical that we remember, however, that this I-Dent program was designed to meet critical dental needs in places where there is no dentist; where there is no better alternative.
Over half of the people that share this planet with us not only don’t have access to any kind of dental care, they don’t even know there is such a thing. I have lived with people who treated their painful teeth by prying them out with a wild pig’s tusk, or cauterized the nerves in painful teeth by thrusting the red hot tip of a blowgun dart into the nerves in their decaying teeth. A friend recently told me that in a frontier area where he lived, people dripped battery acid into their abscessed teeth to stop the pain.
Christ taught His disciples to show compassion to hurting people by His example. Then He commanded them to go and do the same. That tradition has been passed down to us. Surprisingly, I discovered that those areas of our world who don’t know what a dentist is are almost identical to those parts of the world who don’t know who Jesus is or what He did to show his love and compassion for them.
That is why I-Tec has spent years developing the equipment, training systems and techniques to train indigenous God followers to show Christ's compassion to people who need to know that He also cares about all the other needs in their lives.
Why not just encourage qualified dentists to go take care of these people themselves? Well, for one thing, if every dentist in the entire United States quit their practice and went to care for hurting people who have no dentist of their own, they would be able to care for only about five percent of the people who need them. And then, who would take care of your teeth?
Besides that, if our motivation is to show Christ’s compassion and be obedient to Him; we should do what He told us to do the way He told us to do it. In His last instructions to His few followers, He told them to go everywhere and make disciples in every country. Then He told his original disciples to teach those new disciples to do for others what He had taught them to do. (Mt. 28:20) Paul, one of Jesus early followers wrote to his apprentice and told him to pass on to other faithful followers who could pass on to others, what Paul had learned from Christ and had taught Timothy.
The only way dental care and spiritual care will ever reach every one in our world’s fast growing population, especially those in hard to reach and poor areas of it; is for us to train faithful indigenous people to do for their own people what we have learned to do for ours. We can’t give them all years of formal training. Like the old saying goes. You are only one. You can’t do everything, but you can do something and by God’s grace and with His power you ought to do what you can do. Combine that with Christ’s principal of teaching people to fish instead of just giving them fish, and recruit a bunch of other God followers to do this with us and we can reach a bunch more.
But, surprisingly, many of his patients stood by him. They were incredulous that he had acquired his knowledge reading medical texts outside of medical school. Some agitated for him to be licensed.
All other things being equal, would you rather be treated by a medical school qualified doctor or a medical textbook junkie? I know your answer. I would choose the same.
But, what if you were in a terrible traffic accident out in the country and someone you loved was lying on the road bleeding, unconscious and not breathing. If someone showed up in that situation who had no medical license, but who had studied medical textbooks and knew what needed to be done, would you want to wait for a qualified doctor? Me either.
It is impossible to train anyone to be a dentist in a few weeks or even a few months. It is critical that we remember, however, that this I-Dent program was designed to meet critical dental needs in places where there is no dentist; where there is no better alternative.
Over half of the people that share this planet with us not only don’t have access to any kind of dental care, they don’t even know there is such a thing. I have lived with people who treated their painful teeth by prying them out with a wild pig’s tusk, or cauterized the nerves in painful teeth by thrusting the red hot tip of a blowgun dart into the nerves in their decaying teeth. A friend recently told me that in a frontier area where he lived, people dripped battery acid into their abscessed teeth to stop the pain.
Christ taught His disciples to show compassion to hurting people by His example. Then He commanded them to go and do the same. That tradition has been passed down to us. Surprisingly, I discovered that those areas of our world who don’t know what a dentist is are almost identical to those parts of the world who don’t know who Jesus is or what He did to show his love and compassion for them.
That is why I-Tec has spent years developing the equipment, training systems and techniques to train indigenous God followers to show Christ's compassion to people who need to know that He also cares about all the other needs in their lives.
Why not just encourage qualified dentists to go take care of these people themselves? Well, for one thing, if every dentist in the entire United States quit their practice and went to care for hurting people who have no dentist of their own, they would be able to care for only about five percent of the people who need them. And then, who would take care of your teeth?
Besides that, if our motivation is to show Christ’s compassion and be obedient to Him; we should do what He told us to do the way He told us to do it. In His last instructions to His few followers, He told them to go everywhere and make disciples in every country. Then He told his original disciples to teach those new disciples to do for others what He had taught them to do. (Mt. 28:20) Paul, one of Jesus early followers wrote to his apprentice and told him to pass on to other faithful followers who could pass on to others, what Paul had learned from Christ and had taught Timothy.
The only way dental care and spiritual care will ever reach every one in our world’s fast growing population, especially those in hard to reach and poor areas of it; is for us to train faithful indigenous people to do for their own people what we have learned to do for ours. We can’t give them all years of formal training. Like the old saying goes. You are only one. You can’t do everything, but you can do something and by God’s grace and with His power you ought to do what you can do. Combine that with Christ’s principal of teaching people to fish instead of just giving them fish, and recruit a bunch of other God followers to do this with us and we can reach a bunch more.
Minimum Demonstrated Proficiency: It is critical to the long term success of the I-Dent program that we establish that all of our students achieve a pre-determined level of proficiency in our training. This determination should be made by the qualified team dentist prior to the end of each I-Dent training course.
There are three primary reasons for requiring a minimum level of proficiency in our students. First, we do not want to cause new health problems for our needy patients while caring for existing dental needs. Second, this is a radically innovative program that many traditional health care professionals have a difficult time trusting until they see the very positive end results. We do not want to in any way discredit those students who really do master the skills and knowledge in this program by passing any students who do not. Third, it is critical that we establish credibility in training our students to be good ambassadors of God’s compassion to their hurting neighbors.
Certification: It is very important to the I-Dent program that we certify our students. When we sign and deliver our students their certificate for successfully completing the various levels of the I-Dent program, we are telling them, their associates and their patients that they are qualified to offer an identified level of dental healthcare needs.
One of the greatest liabilities to this program is that when the training is finished and the training team leaves, our students might question their own qualification. It is important that they immediately begin to practice what they have learned. Seeing their certificates with their trainer’s signature is a powerful reminder of our confidence in their abilities.
There are three primary reasons for requiring a minimum level of proficiency in our students. First, we do not want to cause new health problems for our needy patients while caring for existing dental needs. Second, this is a radically innovative program that many traditional health care professionals have a difficult time trusting until they see the very positive end results. We do not want to in any way discredit those students who really do master the skills and knowledge in this program by passing any students who do not. Third, it is critical that we establish credibility in training our students to be good ambassadors of God’s compassion to their hurting neighbors.
Certification: It is very important to the I-Dent program that we certify our students. When we sign and deliver our students their certificate for successfully completing the various levels of the I-Dent program, we are telling them, their associates and their patients that they are qualified to offer an identified level of dental healthcare needs.
One of the greatest liabilities to this program is that when the training is finished and the training team leaves, our students might question their own qualification. It is important that they immediately begin to practice what they have learned. Seeing their certificates with their trainer’s signature is a powerful reminder of our confidence in their abilities.
I-Dent Projects
I-Tec is currently involved in the following I-Dent projects:
I-Tec Portable Dental System (PDS)
