Volunteering :: Visit Dentaid

Student visitors

 

At the end of January Dentaid welcomed four fifth year students from the School of Dentistry at Cardiff University.

 

Two have a family background in the profession. Sara Hughes’ mother is a dental nurse and Angharad Truman’s two older brothers are both dentists. Lucy Green and Lois Davies were both attracted to the profession because they wanted to work with people and acquire a hands-on practical skill. 

 

 

 

 Although the School of Dentistry holds fund raising events for Dentaid, they knew little about it, apart from its name and general purpose. Mike Phillips, one of our volunteer retired dentists, showed them some of the tools which had been donated and explained how even old equipment, once cleaned and refurbished, is invaluable in countries where even secondhand kit is beyond the means of most health providers. 

 

 

One of the things which most impressed them was the practical ability of workshop manager, Dave Effamy. Taking three non-working pieces of equipment, he will mix and match parts to produce two which are perfectly viable and ready for shipping. Another skill is to strip out the more complex sections of electronic equipment making it useable in countries with no stable electrical supply.

 

All four women said that doing a stint in a Dentaid sponsored clinic abroad would be a fascinating experience which would enlarge their experience in fields they would never see in the UK.

 

They learned a lot from their day and recommend other students to visit Dentaid. Any dental or dental nurse students interested in visiting should contact Rob Leak on 01794 324249 or email info@dentaid.org