The trip wrapped up today with the final day of surgery. A total of 47 surgeries were performed during this mission with an incredible team and great hosts! As always, it's been a honor and a privilege to care for our patients. We're already looking forward to SB24 in November. Keep checking back here or on Facebook for updates. 

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If yesterday was all about the palates, today is all about the lips. There were 9 repairs completed. 

As hard as it is to believe, the team is already gearing up for the last day of surgery tomorrow, but not before some  celebrating! Everyone was invited to dinner by the  Khulna chapter of the Bangladesh Dental Association to celebrate World Dentist Day!

On the second full day of surgery in Khulna, there were 11 procedures done which were mainly all cleft palates.  One rare case did stand out . We were able to treat a unique facial cleft known as a Tessier 30  or a mandibular cleft.  Although they don't occur often, we did one yesterday - a Tessier 28  - and one today.  While all of today's patients are staying the night, those from yesterday are all doing well and cleared to go home. 

One of the highlights from today was that  a third of the team were able to visit CSS's local orphanage. We were entertained  by the lovely children. 

​Tomorrow there are 11 primary cleft lips planned. Stay tuned for how those go! 

Today was the first full day of surgery with the Christian Service Society in Khulna.  There were a total of 9 patients and 10 procedures which included cleft lips and  palates. The team worked hard during the 12-hour day but everyone is working well together.  Looking forward to keeping going in the coming days. 

The trip may have started in Dhaka but the majority of the mission is taking place in  the southwestern city of Khulna . The team spent six hours traveling and another six hours setting up and screening 60 cases when they got there. One of the most interesting cases is a full thickness anterior mandibular cleft with the tongue tethered to  the left and a cleft split mandible into two.
​There are 36 procedures scheduled so far but there are another 15-20 patients that are coming to be evaluated tomorrow. This is shaping up to be one of the biggest trips we've had thus far! 

Day 1 was an incredibly busy day for the team. Between screening for upcoming cases, setting up at the hospital and two surgeries, there wasn't a lot of down time. In addition to that, meetings with Bangladesh Association of OMS (BAOMS) and  a visit to  Sapporo Dental College wrapped up the day. 
The two primary  lip surgeries took place at East West University's Aichi Medical College Hospital in Uttara, Dhaka. It was great being able to work on two babies we had seen in November but that had not met the weight criteria yet.  They were two successful procedures.  We were also able to evaluate a young man who will need a cleft orthognathic surgery on our next trip in  November as well as a craniofacial cleft case.