Pankaj – volunteer dentist
I don’t think there are any other charities quite like Dentaid which made it stand out to me. The patients you see on a Dentaid clinic are often in much more extreme cases than those you’d encounter in a normal practice. Often you are helping the homeless or people living in poverty who’s dental needs tend to be far more severe. And that’s where you really feel like you’re making a difference. 
What keeps me coming back is the people. Earlier this year I did a clinic in Kingston upon Thames and met a woman who had been punched in the face by an ex-partner. Her front teeth were loose and falling out and that case really stuck with me. Being on clinic gives you the chance to help some of the most vulnerable people – people you can see are suffering. You wouldn’t typically see patients like this in a standard practice as there are so many barriers that stop them from accessing care.
With Dentaid I feel I like I can make more difference in the lives of these people. Today in Woolwich a couple of the people I treated were homeless and had been sleeping in the park next to where we’re set up. They spend their days at the WSUP centre down the road where they can get a shower and a meal but inevitably, they will end up back in this park this evening.
On clinics you tend to do a lot of filling and extractions. Today someone came in with a broken tooth that had a razor-sharp edge cutting into their tongue. They hadn’t been able to eat properly but I managed to smooth it down and relieve the pain. Every clinic is different and today it’s been a lot of cleans and fillings but at a recent clinic I had to extract 11 teeth in four hours!
Working on a Dentaid clinic is definitely more challenging than being in your usual practice. You’re out of your comfort zone and working with equipment you’re not used to, no doubt in a smaller practice than you’re used to, but you make it work. The mobile unit is actually really modern with new equipment so there are pros as well as cons!
I know some clinicians can be hesitant about volunteering. I’ve met a few clinicians that were worried about treating homeless patients because of concerns around infectious diseases like HIV. But any patient in a regular clinic could have the same issues and we often wouldn’t even know. So, my advice would be to not be scared and to overlook that stigma. Volunteering with Dentaid is so much more rewarding than just doing your usual job day in, day out. It’s different but it’s a good kind of different.