At the end of March you came back from Benchen Free Dental Clinic in Kathmandu. How many times have you already worked there?

It was the sixth time. I go there regularly every year since 2000.

You usually stay there for 3 months. Is that long enough?

It depends on how we look at it. From the perspective of our life here the period of 3 months seems to be a long time, but for me and my patients in Kathmandu it's much too short. Their needs are much greater than the job I can manage to do in such a short period of time. During my 3 months visit to the Clinic I can do a check up and all the dental procedures for the Benchen monks, because they come to see me regularly. However when we look at the number of patients coming from outside the Monastery, I never have enough time to see them all and treat all the problems. If one does not see the dentist on a regular basis, th e n I am able only to focus just on one biggest problems, which bring discomfort or pain. And still there are many patients, who simply can not see me or come very rarely.

Why can they not see you? Do they not have time to wait for the visit?

No. The problem is that there are so many of them that everybody needs to do a reservation for the exact day. Of course, if one has a toothache, than one does not need to wait but the rest of the people have to book their visit, otherwise there would be 100 of them every day. If there would be any dentist in Poland treating people for free, the situation would look the same.

It looks like the monks from the monasteries are in much better position.

Yes, but we need to remember that the Benchen Monastery sponsors the Clinic. So 2 days per week are exclusively given to them and also monks and nuns from other monasteries. The other 3 days I can treat patients from outside the monasteries, but when some monk would come at such a day, he would always be treated first. The conclusion is: I need to work more often....

So why did you decide to also take care of children from of a few Kathmandu orphanages?

Because these children have greater problems than others. For example, one of the boys, around 9 years old, was nearly toothless.

It doesn't come only from the fact that they don't care about their teeth, but first of all from general health disorders..

Most of these children were born into very poor families. I noticed that in Nepal the condition of ones teeth is closely connected to the social status of the family. One can say that tuberculosis is still an illness of people living in poverty, similarly the tooth decay occurs more often when people don't eat enough or live on a very monotonous diet.

How many orphanages have you started to take care of?

There are three of them. Some Italian voluntaries started to work to improve the living and health conditions of the children, free them from lice, insects, etc. So they also got the idea to bring them to me. Unfortunately they arrived at the end of my last visit at Benchen and I could help only those, who suffered the most. However they all would qualify for immediate dental treatment...

Can these children not rely on public health care?

No, they can't. They can only hope that they survive somehow. They are lucky when they have enough food to eat. Polish orphanages are said to provide a low standard of living, but the situation in Nepal is incomparably worse. The recent statistics show that 50 - 60 % of society are illiterate.

Did you also have time to treat patients at the branch of the Clinic in Parping?

Not this time. I was trying to convince people living there to make a trip to Kathmandu. Until there is no stationary equipment, the treatment is very limited and tiring for the dentist. Patients have to sit on the normal chair and I need to work in such position that causes a lot of back pain. I wish to establish a real dental clinic out there.

Are there any new Tibetan refugees visiting you?

Yes, they come and generally they don't have big dental problems. I only noticed that recent refugees have a strange orange teeth colour. It's not anything that can be removed, but a colour of the bones. I don't know, what could cause such a change of colour.

Do the monks at the Monastery clean their teeth.?

The older ones do, but small ones don't..

The problem is probably the same everywhere in the world..