On August 4, the dentist Santiago Araya was the first to treat patients in the new facilities of the Santa María Committee Dental Clinic, inside the El Teniente Stadium, in Rancagua.“Seeing how patients leave with a smile is priceless.When you provide care to people who need it and have an improvement in their quality of life, it is a feeling of satisfaction and inner joy”, says the orthodontist and orthopedist.And it is that after two years in which care was suspended due to the pandemic, patients returned to the dental chair of the clinic, which thanks to the work of volunteer professionals cares for people with limited resources.“The Santa María Committee was born more than a decade ago in Chacayes and then moved to Coya, where we had three volunteer dentists who were the pioneers of this clinic,” says María Amalia Silva, in charge of the Clinic and a member of the committee.“Here people with limited resources can be treated who prove that they do not have how to fix their teeth.We also serve homeless people and, in general, all those who do not have access to dental care”, Silva points out.In recent times, the clinic has prioritized children and adolescents, with the aim of promoting awareness of dental care from an early age.For this reason, they also carried out operations in schools in different districts of the region.“Each dentist gives half a day of his time to attend here in the clinic.There are general services, specialists and also a speech therapist, who work together and provide comprehensive care to patients”, adds the committee member.“And although this year is a test year, after the pandemic stopped us, the vast majority of the dentists who work here returned and some new ones even joined us to work in this beautiful clinic that the El Teniente Division built for us.”The dentist Santiago Araya is one of those who returned: he has been collaborating in the Clinic of the Committee for more than five years."It motivates me to give back to society for everything he has given me and to contribute a grain of sand because not everyone has the same access to care," he says.Sign in with your El Rancagüino accountEnter your Email or Username to reset the password