Falmouth Dental Team Prepares to Return to Kenya with Smile Star Charity
A dental team from Falmouth is preparing to return to Kenya with the Smile Star charity.
Dentist Dr Andrew Ridout will travel to Kenya with his wife Lisa (who is a dental nurse) and their daughter Georgie. The family will fly out to Africa in November and work alongside fellow dental volunteers to provide dental treatment for hundreds of people living in poor conditions. The family visited Kenya in November last year and was eager to organise another trip.
Dr Ridout said that he was keen to volunteer after meeting the founder of the charity, Dr Mitesh Badiani, at an event a few years ago.
There are few dentists working in Kenya, with just one dentist per 44,000 people. To put this in context, in the UK, there is one dentist to every 1,560 people.
During their first trip out to Kenya, Dr Ridout and the team of volunteers were able to treat around 1,400 local people and they are hoping to repeat this feat in November. In most cases, dentists were called upon to remove rotten teeth and treat retained tooth roots.
Andrew and Lisa are now busy fundraising and will host a coffee morning on Ponsanooth Hall on Saturday 23rd July. The couple will also be doing a talk at the event to tell people more about the charity and the wonderful work it does in Kenya. The couple hope to raise £1,000 to spend on supplies, including toothbrushes and toothpaste to hand out on their arrival.
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