Anderson Orthodontics

05/11/2026

My brother always finishes his days or trips with a game he calls "Thorns and Roses." So here are my thorns and roses for the Philippines:

Roses:
Some of the nicest people I have ever met
Great food
Rewarding clinic days
Beautiful beaches and scenery

Thorns:
The 38 hours of travel (including sleeping overnight in an airport...and no, I didn't count that in the 38 hours)

05/10/2026

For our last day in the Philippines we stayed in the town of El Nido. Literally paradise. I don't think I have ever spent so long just watching a sunset.

05/09/2026

With our clinic days finished, we spent a few days being tourists. Our first stop was a natural wonder called the, "Underground River." It is the largest navigable underground river in the world.

05/08/2026

Day 4 and 5:

Refreshed and relaxed, we returned to the clinic. This time we visited some outlying clinics. Same rules applied - only fillings, no extractions. We saw a lot of patients, even more than in our first clinic, but by this time we had become more efficient. It was/is very rewarding to know that we treated hundreds of patients over the last 2 days.

People often ask what an orthodontist does on the trip? I serve as the triage doctor - every patient is checked and triaged prior to being treated. After they are checked, they are given anesthetic and brought to the dentist for treatment. On day 5, I had a short break between "triages" and decided to explore the town. What followed was one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen.

05/07/2026

Day 3 - After two busy clinic days we had our first day of rest. As a way of expressing their thanks the clinic brought us to a nearby island for some sun and snorkeling. I won't go into details, the photos speak for themselves. It was a great way to spend a day off.

05/06/2026

Day 1 and 2 of the clinic:

Every clinic is a little different. It takes some time to get everything running smoothly. We were shocked on our first day when the clinic director approached us and asked that we only do fillings on the patients.

It turns out that the area that we were helping had plenty of dentists, but they only knew how to take out teeth - not do fillings. There was a lot of need and we easily filled two days with the work.

05/05/2026

Every year Dr. Anderson looks forward to his dental humanitarian trip. This year the group went to the Philippines, a new location and experience.

It's important that we have a local contact to help the clinic run smoothly. We were fortunate to work directly with the minister of health and run our clinic in their ministry buildings. This was a game changer...the first time we have worked in air conditioned buildings.

10/29/2025

IT'S OPEN ENROLLMENT SEASON: IF YOU ARE THINKING ABOUT CHANGING YOUR DENTAL INSURANCE PLAN FOR 2026 PLEASE CALL US FIRST!

10/01/2025

Grateful to celebrate 10 years of working with an incredible boss !!!!! 

09/24/2025

06/21/2025

With our clinic days concluded, we spent our final day being tourists. We visited the city of Cartagena.

Cartagena is almost 500 years old and it has a lot of history packed into a small area. My favorite attraction is the wall that surrounds the original city center. The old buildings and churches were also a hit.

Sadly, this ends our humanitarian trip for this year. Stay tuned next year - I hear the group has some new wild possibilities for trips.