Health Care that Travels

The portable dental tools are just part of the more than $650,000 in funding for dental care to help survivors regain access to crucial health services.When Sachio Miura last saw his dentist, he didn’t have to go far — just to his living room. Mr. Miura’s dentist, Dr. Michio Uchidate, treated the 83-year-old using portable dental equipment donated by AmeriCares.Mr. Miura is one of 615 patients from Iwate Prefecture in Japan who have received care in their homes from seven traveling dental teams using the portable x-ray and tools.After the earthquake and tsunami damaged 60 dental clinics in Iwate, the local dentists’ association formed mobile teams to bring dental care to their elderly patients, many of whom now live, like Mr. Miura, far from a clinic.The portable dental tools are just part of the more than $650,000 in AmeriCares funding for dental care—including temporary clinics and equipment—helping survivors in Miyagi and Iwate regain access to crucial health services.In 2011 and 2012, AmeriCares funded the construction of three temporary dental clinics—replacing local dentals services destroyed by the disaster—that will serve a population of more than 10,000 people and operate for up to ten years.Read MoreDonate Now