THANKS

Where There Is No Dentist is here to fill a need. To many people, it has seemed that the existing books about dental care were either too incomplete or too complicated. If this book fills that need, it is only because a number of people worked hard to make it happen. To them I owe my sincere thanks.

Much has happened since that day in Papua New Guinea when David Werner’s letter arrived. His challenge was simple: “Since no one else has written a dental manual like this, why don’t you?” With David’s encouragement and constant support, I was able to take teaching notes and produce a suitable draft that was the basis for this book. To you, David, for your patience in helping me learn, my heartfelt thanks. Thanks also to Trude Bock and Bill Bower for the home, food, direction, and support, during a short visit to The Hesperian Foundation in which the book took a definite turn for the better.

Michael Blake deserves special mention. As editor of Where There Is No Dentist, it was he who took the manuscript and nursed it along to completion. Michael’s commitment to finishing the book was vital, and I sincerely appreciate it.

My thanks go to Maggie Leung for typing the final draft, and to those dedicated persons who helped get the book into final form: Annaloy Nickum (page design); Hal Lockwood (typesetting and paste-up); Paul Chandler, Serena Clayton, and Elaine Rossi (proofreading); Pat Bernier (typing); and Howard Uno (photostats).

For their outstanding drawings, I am exceedingly grateful to: June Mehra, Janet Elliott de Jacques, Michael Marzolla, Joan Thompson, Mindy Mead, Arlene Ustin-Cartagena, and Lynn Gordon. My own drawings in the manual appear amateurish in comparison.

I want to thank the many persons who reviewed the manuscript and offered valuable suggestions: Ken Cripwell, Bill Bower, Jeff Vore, Aaron Yaschine, Rosalie Warpeha, Norma Francisco, Mike Muller, Marcia Anderson, Phil Haskett, Bert Ball, Tom Coles, Sunil Mehra, and John Rogers. In particular, thanks to Chris Lennox who, faced with stressful times in Papua New Guinea, found time to read through two drafts; and to David Morley for his ideas for improving the book and his assistance with its eventual publication.

For their financial help, I am grateful to the Ella Lyman Cabot Trust, Muttart Foundation, the Canadian Organization for Development through Education, and the James C. Penney Foundation.

I thank the C.V. Mosby Company and Dr. Kenneth Snawder for permission to adapt several drawings from the Handbook of Clinical Pedodontics, and the Medical Missionary Association (6 Canonbury Place, London N1 2NJ, U.K.) for permission to use parts of David Halestrap’s book Simple Dental Care.

This book is based upon several years of practical experience, made possible by the Canadian Organization CUSO. For this opportunity, and for CUSO’s active interest and involvement in this book, I most gratefully say thanks.

Finally, I want to acknowledge my family’s contribution. For weeks on end, my wife, Gerri, faithfully read and discussed with me each part of the book as it changed and was rewritten. She did this cheerfully, at a time when she was fully occupied in a graduate study program. For much longer than I had anticipated, Gerri and our two boys, Michael and Brennan, had to tolerate my preoccupations.

My parents endured my wanderings and search for answers to human problems with love and a growing sense of understanding. It is my only disappointment that they did not live to see this book in its final form.