Volunteer in the UK
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View dates and locations
Spend a day volunteering on one of our mobile dental units providing dental care to those who need it most.
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Volunteer with BrightBites to help provide fun and interactive oral health education to school-age children.
Our mobile dental units
Clinics take place on our mobile dental units outside hostels, day centres, soup kitchens, community centres and public buildings.
On-board our UK volunteer dentists and dental nurses provide free screening and treatment for all our patients including oral cancer checks, scale and polish, fluoride varnish, x-rays, fillings and extractions.
Who we help
For many homeless and vulnerable people, accessing dental care is incredibly difficult. Our mobile dental units visit soup kitchens, women's refuge centres, hostels and day centres, with volunteers providing free pain-relieving dental treatments, preventive and restorative care and oral health advice.
We provide dental care to people experiencing homelessness, refugees and asylum seekers, families experiencing poverty, military veterans, survivors of abuse, fishermen and their families, children in areas of high social deprivation and victims of domestic violence. Our aim is to help patients out of dental pain and help to restore their self-esteem.
Many patients will not have seen a dentist for many years and may be suffering from anxiety, mental health problems and long-term dental pain. By running a clinic in a location where they feel safe and familiar we can help them out of immediate pain and help them to re-engage with dental care.
We have volunteering opportunities for dentists and dental nurses on board our mobile dental units, to work alongside Dentaid The Dental Charity staff to deliver vital dental treatments.
A day on a clinic in Maidstone
"This has changed my whole life.” These were the words of a patient who received dental treatment on our mobile dental unit during a visit to Maidstone Day Centre, a place supporting vulnerable individuals who have experienced homelessness. In this video, Dentistry visits the clinic in Maidstone, Kent, to hear from patients, meet the volunteer dentists, and speak with the Dentaid team who were staffing the clinic on the day.
What our volunteers say
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Riaz Sharif
Volunteer dentist
“What an absolute privilege to volunteer with Dentaid. The people I met that day and the stories I listened to really hit home for me. Other than aiming to remove pain and prepare patients for a steady path to recovery, I felt one common factor was particular with all of the people I met - they were all determined to overcome the adversity they had faced over the years.
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The feeling of gratitude helping these people was unmatched to anything I’ve done lately. I left feeling thankful for the journey I’ve been blessed to be on and a strong sense of gratitude! Sometimes you have to take a step back to realise how fortunate you are.”
Patricia Bugalho
Volunteer dentist
“I decided to volunteer after reading reviews on the website from other dentists and dental nurses who have previously volunteered. The experience today has been very organised and has exceeded my expectations. I have really enjoyed helping those that don’t have access to dental care and am looking forward to volunteering at a clinic again soon.
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To others thinking of volunteering with Dentaid I would say ‘do it’. It is my first time volunteering today and I have already carried out extractions, fillings, given pain relief and offered oral hygiene advice.”
Laura Nicholls
Volunteer dental nurse
“I decided to volunteer for Dentaid because I enjoy working with disadvantaged groups of people. I wanted to give something back to the community I wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone to grow my confidence.
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What I like about volunteering with Dentaid is going into new situations and meeting clinicians and patients I wouldn’t have the opportunity to meet day to day. I work in a fully private practice so getting to meet groups of patients who wouldn’t usually come to my surgery is a real positive. It has helped to build my skills and experience as a dental nurse.”
What to do next
Step 1
For all volunteering enquiries please email - ukclinics@dentaid.org