Dentaid was set up in 1996 with one worker, his garage and a £12,000 grant. Today, Dentaid is one of the leading international oral health charities in the world, having supported almost 200 oral health projects in over 50 countries.

Below describes the growth of this unique organisation...
When it began in 1996, Dentaid’s founding vision and activity was providing refurbished dental equipment to charitable dental clinics in the developing world. From 1996 – 2000, this was a fairly ad-hoc affair relying mainly upon donations of redundant dental equipment from UK dental practices, which was then lightly refurbished by enthusiastic volunteers. During these years, the charity employed 1 – 2 workers and had a turnover of less than £100,000 per annum.

From 2001 onwards, as Dentaid’s reputation grew and more funds became available through the wonderful support of the dental industry, Dentaid was able to employ specialist staff to undertake this work. Professional systems, procedures and policies were put in place and quality and output increased rapidly. From 2002 - 2006, Dentaid’s equipment operation expanded to a level of 25 - 30 complete dental surgeries being sent to charitable projects overseas annually, at an average of one every ten working days. This work has now helped establish over 100 regional referral centres and outreach treatment programmes serving disadvantaged communities around the world. Conservative estimates point to over one million patients a year receiving safe and effective relief from pain through these Dentaid aided treatment centres – patients who otherwise may still be living with their pain or risk life threatening infection from seeking relief through blacksmith or DIY dentistry.

However, in 2004, in recognition of the limitations of the western clinical approach to improving oral health for whole populations overseas. (The Need) Dentaid embarked upon a major strategic planning process. This included detailed evaluation of past projects and analysis and consultation with other projects, approaches and NGOs around the world. During this process and in line with its eventual findings, Dentaid embarked upon a number of major community-orientated oral health promotion initiatives including Dentaid’s overseas schools programme and Bright Bites.

By the end of 2005, the strategic planning process was completed and Dentaid formally adopted four main strategic priorities for the future - namely oral health promotion, supply of appropriate physical resources, training and advocacy (Our Strategy.) These four priorities represent key strategies and areas of activity with which Dentaid believes it can make the most effective contribution to improving oral health and oral care provision for the hundreds of millions suffering from poor oral health around the world.

In 2006, a number of key strategic staff were recruited to develop and implement these new strategies and activities. In the second half of 2006 alone, major new Dentaid programmes, particularly involving advocacy, training and oral health promotion, were implemented in Cameroon, Myanmar, Cambodia, Uganda, Phillipines, China and Thailand, with major conferences and advocacy projects presented and implemented in France, Switzerland, United Kingdom and Australia, with an ambitious programme of projects and activities planned for the next few years.

Dentaid is now firmly established as the leading international oral health charity in the world. It has an extensive geographical influence and wide portfolio of projects and services. Through its encompassing mid-stream and up-stream activities, over the next twenty years, Dentaid hopes to help improve oral health and oral care provision for hundreds of millions of people around the world.