M a r k e t N e w s
Dentist to return to Kenyan communities
Posted on : Thursday, 20th October 2016
Dr Magdalena Laskowska, of Harwood Dental Practice in Tavistock, and Dr Mitesh Badiani, who set up the charity SmileStar, along with a team of volunteers will be returning to Kenya to provide dental treatment and oral health education to the local communities.
Many of the rural areas in Kenya have no dental service. Kenya’s population of 44-million has only 1,000 dentists (one dentist to 44,000 people) compared with the UK’s 41,000 dentists (one dentist to 1,560 people).
Many people have poor access to clean water and they use a twig from ‘the toothbrush tree’ to clean their teeth.
The team will consist of Dr Badiani, who will lead the team, three highly-skilled dentists, dental nurses and support staff, all of whom pay their own fares. They will take all the dental equipment and materials they need with them from the UK.
Dr Laskowska said: ‘My sole aim is to make a difference to the lives of the Kenyan people I see. I get an enormous sense of satisfaction to be able to use my skills to help people who would otherwise have no access to dental treatment of any kind. I feel that being among the local communities in Kenya puts everything into perspective!’
The team will be flying off to Kenya in November. Dr Badiani and SmileStar Ltd organise two dental charity trips per year to remote, disadvantaged communities where basic dentistry is not available.
Source : www.tavistock-today.co.uk
