Bontoc, Mountain Province – This capital town has a new dentist who is more than passionate and committed to going to the grounds to ensure that children will get the dental care they need.
Doctor Ivy Tamog-ong Wacnagan – Guesaed who was appointed to the position of dentist in a “casual status” by the Bontoc Municipal Government under the Municipal Health Office (MHO) decided to come home to her hometown to serve her kakailyan after working as a dentist overseas for almost nine years and practicing her profession away from home for more than 16 years.
A graduate of Doctor of Dentistry from the Pines City Educational Center in Baguio City in 1993, she put-up her own private dental clinic- the Livy Smile Dental Clinic based in Baguio City in May 2001 until May 2006.
In May 2006, she decided to apply as a dentist in a private dental clinic in Saudi Arabia where she stayed and worked for almost nine years.
When she decided to come home in the Philippines in 2014, she opened the Livy Dental Clinic based in Baguio City practicing her profession as a General Dentist. She loves to be of service to diverse clients who stepped in her clinic and sought oral health care. However, the calling to come home to Bontoc was stronger. Thus, she decided to turn over the management of her dental clinic to one of her protégés who was also a licensed dentist.
When asked what made her decide to come home, Doctor Ivy enumerated only two reasons. First, she was challenged with the numbers of her kakailyan who went to her private clinic for dental services and have no choice but to pay thousands only to have their teeth cleaned, fixed, restored or replaced with dentures. She said that most of her clients are applicants who dream to enter the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) and fresh graduates applying to the uniformed services such as the Philippine National Police (PNP), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), and Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) too. She added that this could have been prevented and/ or avoided if only children are taught at a young age how to take good care of their teeth.
“Perhaps, not everyone considers it as a priority. We are keen on the importance of washing hands and keeping our household clean, but we tend to let things slide when it comes to the state of our oral health and proper dental practices. Sometimes knowing what to do is not enough. You have to do it right, “she voiced.
This she said is the reason that she decided to take the job as the dentist of the Bontoc Municipal Government, including in her bucket of to-do list the visits to Child Development Centers (CDCs) to personally teach children how to properly brush their teeth.
“I have been practicing my profession serving mostly children of Arabs. I believe it is high time for me to come back to serve my own kakailyan. Instead of taking good care of children in a foreign country, I should be here overseeing the dental health of our own children,” she remarked.
Second, she wants to stay close to her family after spending most of her years in other places.
Once the dental clinic is in place at the Bontoc Municipal Capitol, Doctor Ivy does not only see herself spending her time there but bringing dental services to constituents in the 16 barangays of Bontoc where 28 CDCs are located catering to a total of 578 Day Care children.**Alpine L. Killa, Bontoc –LGU
