Lake Harbor Dental has a history of helping disadvantaged people who need dental care. This month, Dr. Eric Ballou is heading to the Dominican Republic, where he will spend a week providing basic dental care to people there. He will be leaving Jan. 16 and returning Jan. 24.
In Boise, Dr. Ballou has also donated his services in Boise to help low-income people, particularly refugees from Afghanistan, Burma, Iran, Serbia, Russia, Africa and Mexico. He also speaks fluent Spanish.
“Donating care is an important obligation for health care professionals and I’ve wanted to do this for a while,” said Ballou. “This will be a great way to use my skills to help people who don’t have much access to good dental care.”
The work will be a switch for Ballou. At Lake Harbor, he does computer-assisted imagery, same-day crowns, advanced implants, Invisalign and the cutting-edge of modern dental care. In the Dominican Republic, he’ll be doing the basics like extractions, fillings, root canals and stainless steel crowns. He’s bringing most of the dental supplies he will need.
Dr. Ballou is traveling a group of dentists also associated with the G3 Foundation. The foundation, started in 2004, provides dental care and basic medical services to areas of the world where access to this care is limited or unavailable. The foundation has provided free services to people in the United States, Africa, the Dominican Republic, Bulgaria, Haiti, and Samoa. More than 20 trips have been successfully completed to date. Trips to the Dominican Republic have taken place every year since 2000. Over that period of time, over 6,500 people have been provided with care. In May, the G3 Foundation held a fundraiser golf tournament in Boise.
