Dental professionals are being invited to use their skills and make a difference with dentistry by joining new volunteering trips to South Africa and Malawi. International dental charity Dentaid is looking for volunteers who want to spend two weeks running outreach clinics and oral health education programmes in communities where there is little or no access to dental care.
In South Africa, Dentaid volunteers will visit the community of Melkhoutfontein to provide dental treatments, screening, fluoride programmes and oral health projects in community centres, schools and nurseries. There is no dentist in the village and many people are suffering chronic dental pain. The team will work with the charity Dreamcatcher which has a number of programmes to support this remote community and improve the environment and opportunities for local people. Volunteers will stay in the community and also have the chance to visit Johannesburg, see local wildlife and visit South Africa’s famous beaches. Dentaid’s volunteering trip to South Africa is March 23-April 7, 2019.
Dentaid is also looking for a team of hardy dental professionals to travel to the village of Bulala in Malawi – 4 hours from the capital Lilongwe. Malawi has fewer than 40 dentists for a population of more than 19 million and many people living in remote areas have no access to any dental services. When a dental team last visited people walked through the night to reach the clinic and the volunteers found more than 100 patients waiting for treatment each day. The team will establish a clinic in Bulala providing emergency treatments, dental care for children and oral health programmes. The volunteers will be staying in hostel accommodation without running water and limited electricity. However, there will be the chance to visit Lake Malawi at the end of the trip and the team will make a huge difference to the lives of many hundreds of people.
