Hawick Dental Volunteers Return from Charity Trip to Tanzania

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A team of dental volunteers from Hawick has returned from a charity trip to Tanzania. The trio of workers from the North Bridge practice travelled to remote communities in the African country as part of a project organised by Bridge2Aid.

The team was made up of dentist Ian McInnes, his wife Gillian, who is a dental nurse and fellow nurse, Nicola Johnstone. During their time in Tanzania, the trip spent valuable time training dental professionals and providing basic dental care. Mrs McInnes said that the trip was an amazing experience that will provide the team with lasting memories and enable dental professionals in Tanzania to use their new skills to help hundreds of people.

Dental care is very different in Tanzania than it is in the UK and the vast majority of people do not have access to even the most basic treatments. There is a severe shortage of skilled dental workers and Bridge2Aid is helping to improve access to dental care, especially in remote areas. It also helps to provide practitioners who have an interest in dentistry with incredibly valuable skills.

The main problem for most people seen by the team was pain. Mrs McInnes said that for many, dental pain was part and parcel of daily life and to provide them with relief was a hugely rewarding experience. The team also focused on dealing with pain in their teaching and adapted their approach to consider the surroundings in which the practitioners will be working and the equipment available to them.

Under the team’s guidance, 11 out of 12 practitioners passed their training. This automatically meant that more than 1,300 people were able to access dental treatment immediately. In addition to the training programme, the participants also received a supplies kit from Bridge2Aid and a pressure cooker to use for sterilisation.

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