A dentist, who served in Anguilla during the early period of the Anguilla Revolution in 1968, and helped to develop the dental services as a labour of love, says the island continues to be part of his heart.

Dr. Nicholson and daughter Anna

The Dental Surgeon, now residing and working in Florida, is Dr. Thomas Nicholson, who is well-remembered by many persons including Revolutionary Leader, Ronald Webster, who was then Chairman of the Anguilla Council and Lorna Fleming who served with him as a dental worker. He was in Anguilla recently with his daughter Anna who lives in Puerto Rico.

“Anguilla is part of my heart because I feel so much a part of this island. I feel that I was one of the little wheels that helped Anguilla become what it is today,” he told The Anguillian, his voice breaking with emotion. “I helped because I volunteered for an American Benevolent Association that was called The Plumstock Fund… I was solicited by the people representing the Fund because they wanted to give a mobile clinic to Anguilla. It was so well equipped that it had educational movies – it could be set up like an outdoor theatre at night. It had its own electric power plant, a dental chair and operating table.”

Dr. Nicholson continued: “I had done a dental programme in Puerto Rico called Operation Head Start. It was part of a larger programme designed by President Lyndon Johnson, who declared war on poverty in the 1960s unlike what we have now war on terrorism. One of the ways to fight war on poverty was to make economic aid, preventive dentistry and preventive medicine available to all. I took the aims and goals of that programme and brought it to Anguilla, got it approved by the Board of Directors of The Plumstock Fund to support me here in Anguilla to provide the services. We were very much interested in preventing dental cavities and dental disease.

“That work was based on two things: prevention and education. We ensured that every school child had a tooth brush, tooth pace and an application of a very powerful preventive agent that was later taken off the market because it was deemed poisonous. But I want to say to Anguillians they have no fear that any of those children were poisoned by our treatment because we all did it under very strict supervision.”

Dr. Nicholson brought with him some well-preserved newspaper clippings showing the Anguilla Mobile Clinic, dental records kept for school children and photographs of Mr. Webster and other Anguillian leaders. One clipping quoted Mr. Webster saying, as he accepted the gift of the mobile clinic: “This is one of the most remarkable days of Anguilla and we are indeed grateful for the good health of all our people.” Dr. Nicholson claimed that the American dental programme was discontinued when British officials became involved in the administrative services of the island.

This is the first time that Dr. Nicholson has returned to Anguilla in over 35 years and was surprised by the high level of development. Like the good and committed dentist he is, he has been advising all persons to take care of their dental health.

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