On most mornings when there’s not inclement weather, retired Bismarck dentist, Dr. Terry Deeter, rides his electric bike to morning Mass at Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, combining God with a bit of recreation and adventure.
Such is also the style of his retirement begun in 2021 after four decades of practicing dentistry at Deeter Dental. He has dubbed it “adventure dentistry” and found ways to put God at the center of it.
Already a travel buff, retirement broke open Deeter’s horizons for both his dentistry and travel. He had considered using the added free time to volunteer, but quickly realized that he could use his dental skills to do so.
“I decided to call it ‘adventure dentistry’ because I like adventure,” he said. “I started last year in Alaska as a fill-in dentist at a typical practice in some of the fishing towns. Alaska is where I heard about the Missionaries of the Poor in Jamacia.”
He did some research on the missionaries and began planning his itinerary.
Missionaries of the Poor
The Missionaries of the Poor was founded in 1981 in Kingston, Jamaica and has expanded to missions around the world serving the Lord among the poorest of the poor in Jamaica, Africa, Haiti, India, the Philippines, Indonesia, East Timor and the United States.
According to their website, Father Richard Ho Lung was associate pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Papine, Jamaica. He was troubled by the poverty, lack of family life and a sense of community there.
Father Ho Lung grew up poor in Jamaica with two sisters and a brother born to Chinese immigrant parents. He was educated by the Franciscan sisters in Kingston (the capital city of Jamaica) and then by the Jesuits at St George’s College. “He felt the call to respond more radically to the Gospel challenge,” the website explains. “Surrounded by desperate poverty in Kingston where the poor suffered greatly, he had a strong sense that God was calling him to respond to their cry and to be with them in their suffering.”
Father Ho Lung made the difficult decision to leave the Society of Jesus and founded Brothers of the Poor, dedicated to the “service of the destitute to fulfill Christ’s desire to be present in this world, using us within His Mystical Body.” Since its founding, the Missionaries of the Poor have received both papal and episcopal approval for their work and constitutions. Today, there are over 550 brothers. “The poor possess a joy that is pure and highly contagious, for it doesn’t come from material comfort and prosperity but from the very gift of being alive each day,” Father Richard Ho Lung was quoted as saying.
Inspired, Deeter planned with them to offer dental services and headed out last December with 150 pounds of medical supplies in his luggage.
“The Missionaries of the Poor are taking care of people who have physical ailments where they are totally unable to take care of themselves,” Deeter explained. “If an infant is born with defects, the child will be dropped off at their front gate.”
Deeter quickly set about assessing their existing dental clinic in serious need of an upgrade.
“Things sat there unused, so their warm, humid weather has broken down some of the supplies,” he said. “They did their best, but hopefully we can upgrade the clinic and provide care beyond just extracting teeth,” he said.
Around 80 patients were cared for in a week, with a lot of teeth needing to be taken out. Many people from the community in Kingston came for care. Surprisingly, no one needed an antibiotic. “I took out around 100 teeth and there were no infections,” he said. “I did not see one swollen face. People are pretty tough and easy to work on.”
Deeter explained that the mission has four separate homes and three monasteries of sisters and brothers.
“They take amazing care of their residents,” he said. “They are committed to these people for the rest of their life from infants to, I think, all the way up to someone who is 95.”
Local dental clinics, Prairie Rose Family Dentistry in Bismarck and several in Minneapolis have donated equipment such as chairs that will go to Jamaica in March in a shipping container. High-tech equipment and medical supplies usually have to be bought new. There are around 70 brothers at the Jamaican mission that he hopes to provide comprehensive care, too.
Returning in May
“They are a pretty amazing bunch committed to a life-long vocation,” Deeter said. “I plan to go back in May and take care of them.”
Deeter is also planning another adventure joining his son-in-law, Jonathan Thompson, for three weeks in April to northern India in the Himalayas.
“He was a medic in Special Forces and did three tours in Iraq,” Deeter explained. “He comes back and graduates medical school from Michigan State University on May 5, then goes off to residency. Jonathan found this and said, ‘Let’s go to India and make this mission.’ We will be providing medical and dental care with about 20 providers through the Himalayan Health Exchange.”
Although he is not sure what his next adventure will be after Jamaica and India, Deeter said he plans to continue adventure dentistry for many years.
“When you are on adventure, you climb one peak or hill and then you see the next one,” he said. “You don’t know what that next one will be until you climb the one and finish it.
“I was fortunate to be educated in dental care delivery which is a service that is easily transported and universally needed. Adventure dentistry is a win, win. I get to visit amazing places and interesting people in a setting that is unavailable to most tourists and to provide dental care. Jesus asks for mercy more than sacrifice. I’m blessed to be able to provide mercy through dental care.”
To donate for the dental clinic, go to MissionariesofthePoor.org and click “Our Missions” to get to “Jamacia – Kingston” and click “Donate.” There’s a space for you to specify it is for the dental clinic. There is no “middleman,” according to Deeter. It will be 100% donation.