SAN ILDEFONSO, El Salvador - Air Force Capt. Brent Winward caught his fellow instructors off guard when he spontaneously removed his belt Thursday during an oral hygiene class for fourth graders in El Salvador.

Winward then asked for four student volunteers to stand in a diamond shape at the front of the class. Two of the children represented teeth as they stood in place. The other two children grabbed opposite ends of the belt and pulled back and forth with the belt sliding between their motionless partners, simulating a string of floss moving between two teeth.

The demonstration was meant to teach children the importance of flossing.

“Almost everyone here, children and adults, don’t know what floss is,” Winward said. “Education is a big part of it, but there is much more. Money and access are also big hurdles to overcome.”

That is an unsettling realization for 27 airmen dentists and technicians who concluded Thursday their 10-day dental assistance exercise after treating more than 2,500 patients and performing more than 3,500 procedures. The assistance was part of Beyond the Horizon 2011, a 4-month-long, joint-service training exercise to provide construction, medical and dental support to the people of El Salvador. This month’s dental exercise is the first of two. The next one, led by the U.S. Army, is set to begin May 23.

Of the more than 2,500 patients to receive fluoride treatments, extractions or fillings, Maj. Shannon O’Keefe said more than 80 percent had severe oral health issues.

“We had to pull teeth until some children didn’t have any left,” she said.

Dental care is free in El Salvador, but that access is limited because of the overwhelming demand — there is about one dentist per 30,000 people. El Salvador’s water also lacks fluoride, which works as a shield against bacteria build up.

To help Salvadoran citizens with limited access, Airmen worked to educate as well as treat. And, for a small minority, stories of dedication to proper oral health were amazing.

“I meet one family with perfect teeth,” Capt. Ruth Rojas said. “I asked their mother, ‘How do you do it?’ She told me they didn’t have money to buy toothpaste, but that she made sure her children brushed three times a day with baking soda. Most people don’t know you can use baking soda or salt to brush your teeth. You can also use thread for floss.”

On the final day of the exercise, Airmen brought fluoride treatment equipment to an elementary school in San Ildefonso where they treated more than 400 children.

“This really was an extremely successful exercise,” said Lt. Col. Michael Webb, the officer in charge of the exercise. “I couldn’t have done it without the fine Airmen who came with me. Anyone of them would do it all over again if they had the chance.”

The dentists participating in the exercise are made up of active duty personnel who volunteered to go to El Salvador.

Airmen 1st Class Gaberial Fowble, who was bitten three times in the exercise while performing extractions, said he still enjoyed the experience and looks forward to participating in another dental training exercise in the future.

“I can’t explain how good it feels to help out the people here, especially the children,” Fowble said. “It is a feeling I’ll never forget.”