“We live well together” - Meet Dr Mussa Nguva

This post is dedicated to Mussa Ngova and his role in patient care at Ilula Lutheran Hospital. As the solo dentist in our group, I. have had the privilege of spending most of the past two days in the one room dental clinic, with dental therapist Mussa Ngova. 

Immediately, as we had our first few discussions and patients, it was clear that Mussa is engaging, witty, and very knowledgeable. As the hours continued, I observed his deep compassion and empathy for his patients, and his skills as a clinician. He has been at Ilula Hospital since 2014, and upon asking him what has kept him staying there so long, he answered simply: “we live well together.” I was a little confused at first, I had to clarify… he then explained that he has a great relationship with his coworkers and the leadership at the hospital, that he is happy to be a part of the team caring for his patients alongside the other department providers. He spoke also about his passion for oral health education; in Tanzania, preventive dental care (routine twice yearly exams/xrays and cleanings as we have in the US) is not available/practiced, rather patients appoint only when they are having pain. And so we both agreed that “patient education is the prevention.”  He desires to do more in person outreach to the surrounding villages to educate on oral health and prevention methods, but he said the funding to do this (paying for transportation, gas etc) just isn’t available right now. 

As we spent the morning with his patients, I observed Mussa functioning as a dentist would in the US - examining, diagnosing, and then completing treatment (local anesthetic and extracting teeth) and writing prescriptions/giving post op instructions. But unlike in the US (with a team of reception and dental assistants) he also charts, sets up and cleans up after each patient, and sterilizes the instruments. And he does ALL of this for every patient BY HIMSELF - he is the only person in the dental clinic. This alone is a feat - it is grueling work without a break - and he had a very steady and busy stream of patients both days. On top of this, include the emotional drain of caring and calming each very anxious patient; he spent time re-assuring his patients and was empathetic. Side note - yes! in case you were wondering, fear and loathing of the dentist transcends cultures 😂.)  We were both also curious about many things, and asking each other lots of questions, and this definitely added more to his plate.     Lastly, and of most impact, is that Mussa’s working with vastly different resources and technology than what you would find in a typical dental office. 

And yet, Mussa did this all with SO MUCH JOY. And I kept thinking, he has worked hard caring for patients and “lived well together” with the Ilula Hospital team for 10 years - what an amazing health care provider, with such an incredible contribution to the Ilula community.