Ann Arbor, MI — February 9, 2011 — “It was one of those requests for help that comes along once in a lifetime, so when we were asked to help, we said 'yes' without any reservation or hesitation,” said Dr. Dennis Lopatin, senior associate dean, as he talked about an e-mail request sent to the U-M School of Dentistry last summer.

The e-mail was written by a U.S. serviceman stationed in Afghanistan. Lt. Raymond Tinucci, a dentist assigned to a medical training team in that country, said School of Dentistry alumnus Dr. Kory Gernhofer (DDS 2007) thought the School of Dentistry’s Web site might help Tinucci achieve his mission "of resurrecting dentistry here in Afghanistan.

The School quickly responded to the request for help. As a result, a wealth of information may ultimately lead to reviving basic dental services that will benefit the people of Afghanistan.

The U-M Connection

Gernhofer and Tinucci, both with the U.S. Navy, were shipmates at the Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) in Cherry Point, North Carolina, from May 2009 to February 2010. Gernhofer, now in the fourth year of his tour of duty, is a general dentist at Miramar MCAS in San Diego, California.

Tinucci acted on Gernhofer's suggestion, visited the Schools Web site, and was surprised with the abundance of information he found — videos, photographs, journal articles, and more. Tinucci said the U-M content "is perfect for what I am trying to accomplish here."

However, there was a significant obstacle to making the information easily available so Afghan medics could learn how to perform basic dental procedures. Because of the lack of a modern communication infrastructure in that country, "the videos are time consuming to download and, sometimes, because of the size of the files, I cannot get them all," Tinucci wrote.

"The Right Thing to Do"

Lopatin assured Tinucci of a desire to help pointing out that the School of Dentistry has worked with educational institutions and other organizations in Ghana and South Africa. "It was never a question of if we would help, but how we would help, the best way to help, and the quickest way to do it, Lopatin said. "We responded, not only because we could provide the information, but more importantly, because it was the right thing to do."

Listen to Lopatin's remarks...

Prior to shipping the content, Dr. Lynn Johnson, assistant dean for Informatics and Innovation, worked with her staff to resolve a number of technical issues, including file format and compatibility. Once those issues were resolved, a test file was sent to Tinucci. "When he approved, the rest of the content was copied onto two 500 gigabyte hard drives and sent to Afghanistan," said Emily Springfield, instructional technology designer.

About six weeks later the hard drives arrived in Afghanistan. Included with the package were U-M tee shirts and caps and a letter from Lopatin expressing gratitude "for giving us the opportunity to share our content and support the important work that you are doing not only for our country, but also for the people of Afghanistan."

"Thrilled would be the best way to describe the reaction to the videos," Tinucci wrote in a subsequent e-mail. "They are excellent and help immensely. In addition, our librarian wears his Michigan hat daily!" He added the information would help establish an educational program for dental lab technicians and a dental assisting program. They would also be used to help create a new dental library.

Another Benefit of the Videos

Tinucci said showing the videos to Afghan physicians was "extremely useful since the Afghans learn a lot by watching." But there was another benefit. "They're excited that since English is spoken in the videos, and spoken slowly, Afghans understand the content,” Tinucci wrote. "Their speech has improved, and that's important since many aspire to increase their English speaking skills."

Some of the information in the videos has been translated by local interpreters into Dari, a dialect of Persian spoken in Afghanistan, and one of two official languages in that country. The other is Pashto. About 5 million people speak Dari in Afghanistan.

The videos have been distributed to Kabul Medical University, the Afghan National Army, the Afghan National Policy, and the National Directorate of Security, as well as to many private practitioners. "We have not rendered any care to the Afghans. It is their health care system, so we only advise or teach," Tinucci said.

"This is one of the most satisfying experiences I can recall in my 34 years at Michigan because it vividly demonstrates that we not only train and educate students to become dentists, but that we have the resources to help the world," Lopatin said.

Since U-M School of Dentistry videos were first offered on its YouTube Channel two years ago, the videos have been viewed more than 1.5 million times worldwide. During the 1970s, more than 1,200 programs were recorded on videotape in the School's television studios. More than 800 videos have been digitized for viewing on the Internet. The School’s videos are also a part of U-Ms Open.Michigan Project.