A small team from the UK has made a big difference in Uganda providing free dental care to
hundreds of people who otherwise have little or no access to treatment.
The team, including Dentist Dr Patel and dental nurses Bishnu Shrees Kaucha and Jodie Griggs
joined forces with the Uganda Dental Association (UDA) and a wider group of 17 volunteers to
run a community dental outreach clinic in rural central Uganda.
Working long hours in challenging conditions, the group saw more than 800 patients attend
the makeshift clinic set up in a school hall over three days, offering extractions, fillings,
restorations, oral health education and pain-relief care.
Many of those treated had been living with long-term toothache or infections.
“We were overwhelmed by numbers in need, but have learned a huge amount from our
Ugandan counterparts in terms of public oral health education, which is almost a forgotten
art in UK practice,” said Dr Patel. “People queued from early morning, some travelling for
hours just to be seen. Although there are issues, we take the existence of widespread dental
care for granted at home.”
The outreach took place at Alice Memorial Primary School in the Buikwe district in central Uganda and UK teams worked side by side with Ugandan counterparts to bring relief to local families and pupils of the school. The clinic ran workshops to teach children the basics of daily tooth-brushing and diet for good oral health and distributed toothbrushes donated by UK school children.
“Everyone worked together from dentists, nurses, students, and volunteers. It was truly a team effort,” said Anita, the project leader for the Uganda Dental Association. “Seeing someone smile again after being in pain for so long made every minute worthwhile & it gives the dentists involved a great opportunity to share skills, experience and knowledge.”
The UK team helped supply dental instruments and materials donated by practices and suppliers back home, all of which went directly into patient care.
“We’re so grateful for everyone who supported us”, added Laxmi Patel, a volunteer aged just 12, “The Folkestone School for Girls, St Martins School and Seabrook Primary raised over eleven hundred toothbrushes and it was wonderful to be able to hand these out to children and get to know them.”
The experience has inspired some of the participants to continue supporting dental access projects for those who can’t access dentistry abroad and to raise awareness of oral health inequalities around the world.
They intend to carry out further work and campaign for oral health education to be delivered in UK schools and hope to provide data on the outcomes of their work to the British Dental Association and UK colleagues in the coming months.
Information
📧 blackbullroad.folkestone@nhs.net
📞 +44(0)7999202670
🌐 https://ugadent.org
With Special Thanks to:
Dental Sky
Guildhall Pharmacy
Costech
The Folkestone School for Girls
Seabrook Primary School
St Martins Primary School
Alice Memorial Primary
