South Tyneside Dentists Support Dental Charity Work In Tanzania
Two dentists from South Tyneside are supporting a dental charity to help people in need in Tanzania.
Sarah Kime and Sarah Torr, from South Tyneside NHS Foundation’s community oral health team, have been supporting Bridge2Aid, which runs projects in poor communities in Tanzania, for several years and they have recently returned from another trip to East Africa.
Miss Kime, an expert in special care dentistry, recently returned from her fifth trip to Tanzania; during her stay, she offered urgent care and also helped to train dental practitioners. Miss Torr has now visited the country three times.
Miss Kime said that in countries where there is no urgent dental care available, people are willing to do anything to be rid of pain and this can contribute to serious injuries; she has heard of people trying to extract teeth with instruments such as bicycle spokes, before and said that people resort to dangerous procedures in their desperation.
Training is a major part of the Bridge2Aid effort and the aim is to train local people so that they are able to offer basic dental care and free patients from pain.
Miss Kime said that the charity work has become a passion for her and she looks forward to her trips to Tanzania and seeing the difference Bridge2Aid is making out there. She raised more than £1,000 this summer after conquering the mighty Kilimanjaro and said that the challenge was worth it to support such a worthy cause.
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