Kennewick dentist raises money for Guatemala mission

Bart Roach is at it again.

The Kennewick dentist — known for his volunteer work in the Tri-Cities and overseas and also for his travel writing — is headed back to the Pacific coast of Guatemala in November to provide dental care to people in a small fishing community.

He’s taking a team of dental professionals and other volunteers to El Paredon over Thanksgiving.

It’ll be his third trip there this year. During a visit in April, Roach and his team treated more than 400 patients.

“We placed fillings and fluoride, extracted teeth and gave home care instructions to the gracious people of El Paredon,” he wrote.

This time around, Roach — owner of Three Rivers Dental in Kennewick and co-founder of the nonprofit Sonrisa Immaculata — wants to provide more hygiene care.

“We have a problem, but it’s a good one to have. We need more chairs!” he wrote on a GoFundMe page.

“During the last clinic, we were doing extractions out of a Lay-Z-Boy recliner so that we didn’t have to tie up one of the restorative chairs. Now we are going to have six providers (at least) and only three chairs to work out of,” he wrote.

So he’s looking to raise $10,000 to bring that total to six chairs and associated equipment, plus a sterilizer.

None of the donations go to travel expenses, as all the volunteers pay their own way.

“All donations are for durable goods that we will use for the next 20 years,” Roach wrote.

To help out, go to gofundme.com/2y4sx7nu.

This story was originally published September 1, 2016 at 6:25 PM with the headline "Kennewick dentist raises money for Guatemala mission."