Maplewood Dentist Volunteers in China

This past November, Maplewood's own Dr. Marc Beshar, a general and cosmetic dentist, completed a two-week mission to China with Alliance for Smiles where 134 Chinese children with cleft lip or palate were surgically treated for free. Dr. Beshar served as Dental Director for this, his first overseas mission.

During this mission, Alliance for Smiles, now completing its fifth year of work, performed its 2,000th operation to correct cleft lips or palates.

"This was a perfect way for me to extend my gratitude to the Chinese people for the gift of my two adopted daughters, who were born in China," said Beshar. "The personal sense of purpose I experienced is indescribable." 

Beshar's daughters, adopted as infants from China, are now 13 and 14 years old. Beshar, who has lived in Maplewood since 1991, had not visited China since the girls' respective adoptions and was anxious to return. "When I signed up for the program, I requested China, but they said, 'No, it's Bangladesh.'" Despite his preference for China, Beshar did not hesitate, "I'll do it anyway," he said, "and, sure enough, there was an emergency opening for China."

Cleft lips and palates are anomalies that cause severe facial disfigurement and occur worldwide once in every 850 births, according to the Alliance for Smiles. China is a major focus of the organization because one in every 350 babies born in the country is diagnosed with the problem.

"On the mission, one of our patients was a 3-month-old whose name translated as 'Ordinary Girl,'" related Dr. Beshar. "She was brought in by a poor couple from the countryside who had just found her while picking through the city garbage in order to survive. We treated her and left the parents in tears of gratitude. The sense of awe and gratitude we all experienced is beyond measure."

In addition to performing corrective surgery, the goal of the Alliance for Smiles team is to facilitate active interchange of ideas and practices through mentoring and lectures with the volunteer doctors as they provide advanced training in reconstructive surgery techniques. During his mission Dr. Beshar taught a group of dentists and students at the Wenzhou Dental University.

Alliance for Smiles, founded in 2004, has completed 18 medical missions and has provided more than 2,100 children with corrective surgery. The cost per patient is valued at $1,000.

Now back in Maplewood, Beshar biggest travel plans are his trips to his dental practice in Manhattan. Would he volunteer for Alliance for Smiles again?

"I'd love to!" said Beshar.