In a little over an hour, oral and maxillofacial surgeon John Wallace and the team from Smile Bangladesh can forever change a life.
The 501(c)(3) nonprofit has spent two decades repairing cleft lips and palates in Bangladesh, a country of about 175 million people where it’s estimated that fewer than 30 surgeons have formal training in cleft surgery.
Many Bengalis are unaware that the birth defects can be fixed, and those who are often cannot afford or access care. A failure to correct a cleft can be disastrous — leading to poor nutrition, difficulty speaking, and social isolation.
Smile Bangladesh has been filling the gap in care since January 2006. Wallace — the Park Cities surgeon who founded Dallas Oral Surgery Associates — is the nonprofit’s treasurer and has been involved since its early years.
The procedures, Wallace said, each cost about $300. That’s a bargain for the transformational surgery.
“I have a magic wand, and give me a little time, and we’re going to wave it. I’ll change your whole life from here forward,” he said. “I’m in awe of the education that I’ve received. I’m in awe of the skills that have been given to me.”
Wallace flies to Bangladesh annually as part of an approximately 20-person team of medical professionals from around the United States. Some of the group’s patients travel for days by bus or train to receive medical attention.
About 70 people lined up to be screened by Smile Bangladesh on its most recent trip to Khulna in southwestern Bangladesh. The doctors and nurses spent four 12-hour days doing surgeries.
In the United States, newborns with clefts are quickly identified and treated. But that’s not the case in Bangladesh. Although the youngest patients are infants, Wallace once repaired a cleft on a 78-year-old.
“You’re kind of a last resort,” he said. “You’re their only shot, in most cases.”
One of Wallace’s most memorable patients was a poised teenager whose speech was almost incomprehensible due to her defect. The morning after her surgery, even she couldn’t believe how wonderful she sounded.
“I sound like I have a voice,” she told Wallace through an interpreter.
Wallace has continued his support of Smile Bangladesh at home in Dallas.
In past years, he’s teamed up with Sevy’s chef/owner Jim “Sevy” Severson for a September charity wine dinner. Severson has prepared the menu, and Wallace has brought wines from his personal cellar.
Guests have been invited to taste the wines “blind” and vote on their favorite drink after each of the meal’s five courses. Then, Wallace has revealed whether their choices were a $30 bottle from the store, or a $300 bottle that’s been aged for 20 years.
Smile Bangladesh relies on donated equipment and reuses many supplies that would be considered disposable in the United States.
On his most recent trip to Bangladesh, Wallace brought donated anesthesia equipment, along with his five children’s baby blankets. His son Matthew Daniel’s blanket, adorned with the alphabet and animals, was placed over each of Wallace’s patients during their surgeries.
The procedures, Wallace said, open up a world of possibilities for patients, giving them a chance to have families of their own.
“All the things you take for granted don’t happen if they can’t get this fixed,” he said. “You do change their life.”