Say ahh. The outreach program includes tooth extraction to those who need it badly.

Expect the unexpected. For cosmetic dentist Dr. Marilou Pacubas, the unexpected came as a surprise though. She gleefully shares that landing in the dentistry field was just “by accident.”

Dr. Pacubas hails from a family of educators and lawyers, so it almost looked like she was going to pursue the family line. “I was in UP Diliman taking up Political Science, I even became an activist,” she tells. Her father didn’t see it as something beneficial, so he had her transfer to University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center (UERMMMC) and take up dentistry. As expected, the transition from one course to another was quite a challenge.

“The shift was not easy,” she goes on. During the course of her studies though, she learned to appreciate the field she was in matched with the determination to earn a college degree. “My mind was set on finishing college. It was my agreement with my father: To finish college on time.” She did with flying colors, and without any hint of bitterness.

After graduation, she immediately took care of her board exam requirements and then joined a medical action group in the Cordillera region as a volunteer for two years. However, due to a personal and precarious matter, she soon found herself packing her bags for the Big Apple.

Life in the U.S.A.

Dr. Pacubas furthered her studies in dentistry at New York University (NYU) where she also explored the busy streets of Manhattan during her free time. She also apprenticed to two prosthodontists, namely: Dr. Boddy Maffer and Dr. Ron Fieman. It was through her mentors that she learned the value of high quality service in the profession she’s in.

“Dr. Fieman taught me to be hands-on to a patient—from personally making the dentures and to developing my practice in the highest level as possible. I learned to invest in my craft and not to compromise my quality of work,” she enthuses.

Eventually, she moved to the San Francisco Bay Area to pursue her profession. While U.S. has greener pastures, Dr. Pacubas felt that there is more to life than just earning her keep. And so despite the promise of a lucrative career, she decided that the Philippines is still her home. She came back and has never regretted her decision ever since.

Dr. Pacubas now operates two dental clinics in the Metro Manila area and has held prestigious positions through the years. She became head of the scientific lecture pool of the Philippine Dental Association in 1997 up to 1998. In 1998, she started her membership to the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry and soon found herself as elected country representative for the Asian Academy of Aesthetic Dentistry. 2007 came, and she was elected as International Liaison Officer for the Asian Academy of Aesthetic Dentistry up to 2012. She also acts as a beauty consultant for the Miss Earth beauty pageant. Despite the glitz of her job, the need to go beyond her career is still on fire. Thus the birth of her personal advocacy: the "Bring Back My Smile campaign." 
  
Champion of Smiles

The campaigned was initially geared towards underprivileged children and abused women, who had their teeth ruined because of violence and lack of proper oral care. Dr. Pacubas and her peers coordinate with the KUYA Foundation into gathering street children around the metro for their monthly dental missions.

“We started five years ago with a makeshift counter wherein we gather the children who need our help and fix their teeth,” she says. Tackling abused women was another story though.

“Here in the Philippines, the problem is that most battered women are afraid to show themselves so it can be a challenge to find them to begin with,” she explains. As time went by, Dr. Pacubas decided to take things a notch higher: To orient Manobos about modern dental practices. The destination was the Maguindanao area.

Living with the Manobos

Say the word ‘Maguindanao’ and negative assumptions would immediately become the buzz. Perhaps, this is brought upon by the political instability that has surrounded the land for a long time. However, there’s a saying that one shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Thus, Dr. Pacubas and her team took the seemingly perilous road to reach out to the Manobos, and explore the different areas in Maguindanao.

On her latest venture last October 2009, she couldn’t deny that fear somehow seeped into her system. “A week before we went, there was news that a priest was just kidnapped so the authorities were on red alert. It was somehow a relief that some of our fellow mission workers know the locals there. But then again, we still had to put a wrap over our heads to avoid unwanted attention,” recalls Dr. Pacubas.

But fond memories still dominate her mindset, hence her continuous passion into making bi-annual visits there for the past three years and teaching the tribe proper dental care.

The Manobos, though, were first reluctant and cautious to let Dr. Pacubas and her team do such. “When our group first met the Manobos three years ago, we sensed that they were afraid because they have this belief that newcomers don’t exactly have good intentions on their community,” explains Dr. Pacubas. So how did the Manobos warm up to them?

“You just let them be, to observe you for one to two days or so. They’ll just look at you from afar. We just smiled at them and when they made movements that are unfamiliar, the best way is to just go on and not panic. We didn’t force them to immediately befriend us. The nice thing we did though is when we sat and ate meals with them; they knew then that we are not enemies,” shares Dr. Pacubas.

She and her team discovered that the Manobos are a peace-loving and complacent tribe that are protective of their kin and loved ones. “They are protective but they’re not the type to initiate violence towards others.”

Dr. Pacubas and her team usually stay for three consecutive weeks with the help of the Sisters of Notre Dame of the Mission (RNDM), a group of nuns also dedicated to the welfare of the Manobo people.

A typical day in a mission starts at 4a.m., wherein Dr. Pacubas and the rest wake up for meditation, tai-chi, and breakfast. By 8a.m., the medical operations start. Since the area has no electricity, Dr. Pacubas resorts to doing standard dental procedures manually. She gets at least 30 patients or more for a day. They usually wrap up around 4p.m. but even then overtime can’t be avoided.

“We have our own mouth torches because sometimes it’s already dark yet the patient is still in the middle of an operation.”

She further relates a rather comical incident during one of her daily sessions with the Manobos. While operating on a patient, Dr. Pacubas saw a cobra casually hanging out near their area. She panicked and immediately fled for safety, but much to her surprise a young Manobo kid reached out and simply patted the cobra with a stick to go away. The cobra was not aggressive and simply crawled out to a distance.

Despite being born with a silver spoon, helping others get a better lease in life is inherent in Dr. Pacubas’ genes. Social responsibility was something that was instilled in her and her three other siblings since childhood. The daughter of a landlord, Dr. Pacubas’ father made sure that the workers under him are always in good shape. “My father’s my biggest inspiration. He was a farmer by heart and he would always tell us to look out for the welfare of the families who worked in our land.”  She adds, “I guess one of the reasons why I came back to the Philippines stems from my family’s ideology that it is our responsibility to serve the country in our own minimum and maximum ways.” And with a zest for life, the ever vibrant Dr. Pacubas continues her fight against cavities and her plight to shed more light on proper dental care in the Philippines.