(photos by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Mark Logico) Canadian Army Capt. David Lee, assigned to USNS Mercy, extracts a tooth from a Vietnamese child as part of the Pacific Partnership dental civic action program.

Pacific Partnership dental civic action programs generally provide education on oral hygiene and emergency dental services, such as tooth extractions. Working with East Meets West, however, allows the team to do more. With its increased capability, the program at the Dien Khan site provided additional dental service including teeth cleaning, fluoride treatment, sealing and filling.

‘‘East Meets West has been providing the equipment, instruments and people for the mission,” said U.S. Public Health Service Dental Corps Reserve Capt. Charles Craft, who is also the East Meets West’s dental director for the Dien Khan site.

‘‘The U.S. Navy is bringing more personnel and supplies. Together, we are able to increase our capacity and, of course, the patients benefit by that,” Craft said. ‘‘We’re very happy to be able to partner with the U.S. Navy and the other allied nations, to form a true alliance.”

On Friday, the East Meets West team included 15 members, eight of whom were Vietnamese staff. The rest of the team was composed of volunteers from Scotland, England, Cambodia and New Zealand. The Mercy team was made up of 20 personnel from the hospital ship, volunteers from the University of California, San Diego Pre-dental Society and other partner nation personnel from South Korea, Canada, Australia and Singapore.

Craft referred to his team as his ‘‘United Nations dental team” because of the number of countries represented.

‘‘The biggest challenges on a joint team like this are to match up our skill sets and to form a professional group despite our individual backgrounds and different cultures and different educational upbringing,” Craft said.

The dental civic action program had treated more than 250 patients prior to the weekend’s activities. Officials expected that total to surpass 1,500 patients by Monday, while also providing more than 5,000 services worth more than $250,000.

‘‘Vietnamese, in general, don’t know that oral and dental care can affect the body,” said East Meets West Vietnamese Chief Dentist Tran Thi Minh Huong, who is the group’s dental national coordinator.

Huong also said many of the Vietnamese people, especially in the rural areas, are more concerned with putting food in their stomachs than they are with oral hygiene.

‘‘The Vietnamese people here are very appreciative of the service,” said Vietnamese Army Junior Lt. Lam Xuan Hoa. ‘‘There are a lot of people from different countries to help us.”

Lam protected the dental supplies at the site. While there, he also had his teeth cleaned. Lam said this is the first time he saw so many foreigners. He said it was a chance for many of the Vietnamese to meet people from different countries.

‘‘I look forward to the next time Mercy comes back,” Lam said. ‘‘We seldom get a chance like this. The children can get some tooth brushes, toys and dental treatment.”

East Meets West is a local non-profit charitable organization which has operated in Vietnam since 1988.

Vietnam is the second stop on Mercy’s five-month Pacific Partnership humanitarian civic assistance mission to build friendships and professional relationships through Southeast Asia. Mercy is also scheduled to visit Timor Leste, Papua New Guinea and the Federated States of Micronesia.