Dentistry‘s Lucy Veal visits a Dentaid dental unit to witness firsthand the transformative care they provide to vulnerable communities.
‘This has changed my whole life.’ These were the words of just one of many patients whose suffering was relieved by Dentaid The Dental Charity during my visit to their mobile dental unit. On this day, Dentaid was visiting Maidstone Day Centre, a service providing support to countless vulnerable men and women who have experienced homelessness in the local area.
The patient, Nathan, said he couldn’t believe how this one day had made such a difference to his life. ‘I’ve been homeless for a little bit now. I lost my job and I lost my flat in the same time, basically, and I got anxiety and depression from it all. I started drinking, and that’s why I’m here today.’
Nathan continued: ‘I had loads of pain – every day, basically – from a tooth. It was, like, pulsating through my whole body all the time, and it was just so painful.
‘This has changed my whole life, basically, for me now. I’m so happy about it, it’s so good. I can’t believe it.’
Increasing need
Nathan’s touching reaction to receiving critical dental care from Dentaid encapsulated the energy of the entire day. And his story is just one of thousands made possible by Dentaid’s ongoing efforts to provide essential dental care to those in need.
Alongside people experiencing homelessness, the charity travels across the country to visit refugees, cancer patients, survivors of abuse, families in poverty, people recovering from addiction, and communities with limited access to dental care. In 2024 alone, Dentaid ran 896 clinics across the UK, providing care to 6,786 people and offering 27,108 treatments.
Andy Evans, Dentaid CEO, explained: ‘The need is massive. And to give you an illustration, over the next year, we’re expecting to do 1,100 clinics. So, there’s been a massive increase in what we’re doing.’
Dentaid has existed for nearly 30 years, providing dental care not only in the UK, but overseas, too. ‘The reason that we set these clinics up is that actually these patients have different lives, so they’re struggling with many things,’ Andy told me. ‘Even just thinking about where they’re going to sleep at night might not, for you and me – we just walk in and go to our bedrooms, but these guys might be in temporary housing, they might have just come out of prison, so they need a little bit more handholding.’
He continued: ‘By providing these clinics, we’re able to help them through the process. We provide a medical history within a building that they’re used to, within a setting that’s non-threatening, because many dental practices can seem quite daunting to somebody who’s got mental health problems, hasn’t been seen by dentists, or is really concerned by the way their teeth look. So, by taking the service to them, it really makes a massive difference to them.’
‘I can smile again!’
On this particular day, the volunteer dentist providing the treatments within the dental unit was Robert Banks. He explained that the patients they usually treat have been suffering from toothache, pain and broken teeth, and sadly most of them require extractions. ‘They’re often very vulnerable and they need to be treated gently, just like we do with all of our patients, really,’ he said.
Robert first got involved with Dentaid during the height of the Syrian civil war, working at refugee camps out in places like Thessaloniki and Lesbos. ‘It’s important to me, personally, to be able to give something back.
‘I’ve had a good time in the dental profession. I absolutely love the work that I do, and I think it’s really important that, when we’re in the privileged position that we are, that we can give something back to society as well.’
Amanda, another one of the patients Robert treated that day, had been through a difficult period in her life. When asked about her story, she shared: ‘I’m here because I was homeless after the breakdown of a very long relationship. I just need to move on, get my life back on track properly.’
To her, access to this dental service is nothing short of ‘invaluable.’ Having noticed her waiting anxiously for her turn to see Robert, seeing her reaction afterward was incredibly moving. Looking overjoyed, she told us, ‘I can smile again!’
Similarly, 22-year-old Tyler was grateful for Dentaid’s services that day, having suffered from dental pain for a while and not knowing what to do. He said: ‘This clinic means a lot. The help that it gives to other people and myself – it’s taken a massive weight off my shoulders stress-wise and everything. The people are very kind, very caring.’
Vital funding
Dentaid’s life-changing work wouldn’t be possible without vital funding. The dental-unit vehicles allow the charity to provide crucial dental care across vulnerable communities, but they don’t come cheap.
Andy said: ‘Funding is always a struggle, so the more funding we have, the more that we can do. Running these lorries isn’t cheap and they are very technically difficult units to keep running, requiring a lot of personnel, so that’s a really big challenge.’
During my visit, Septodont was the generous supporter of the dental unit in use – and all those used across the south east – and their funding covers more than just the vehicles themselves. Mike Cann, Septodont managing director, told me: ‘Septodont has supported Dentaid financially, we’ve provided the truck, we’ve provided a lot of their materials – certainly everything that we produce – and we provide a home for them in the Maidstone area, so the truck is parked at our office.
‘Their staff, which we help fund, use our office space and have really become part of the Septodont Maidstone team, which has been great.’
Without this crucial funding, Dentaid could not provide this life-changing dental treatment to those who need it most. When I asked Mike what it means to Septodont to be able to give back, he said: ‘It means a lot. We want to work with our communities, we want to work with the dental profession.
‘All of the dental professionals who volunteer their time are able to do that because of materials and equipment which has been donated through dental companies. And we’re really proud that Septodont has been a big part of that here in the Kent area, particularly.’
Rewarding and impactful
As well as finding funding, one of Dentaid’s biggest challenges is recruiting volunteers. As clinic supervisor Ria Wickham explained: ‘We’re always looking for volunteers to come on board and help us.
‘These patients aren’t turning to normal methods of pain relief to treat their pain. By relieving their pain, we can also help them from going to a higher-level drug dependency. So, you’re doing a massive, massive job by helping them.’
She continued: ‘I tell every volunteer that comes on board that I love doing this job more than any other job I’ve done in dentistry, and I am so passionate about doing this job. The feeling you get from helping people with the skills that we have in dentistry is just amazing. These guys are so grateful for everything that we give. I get tearful just talking about it!’
This sentiment was shared by Robert, who believes everyone should get involved with work like this as it’s both rewarding and great for widening your career. ‘You get such a different range of people coming in, and you have to constantly be thinking about, not only the patient in front of you, but how you’re going to manage the treatment that you’re doing in, sometimes, very difficult circumstances with people who are challenging.
‘It’s something I absolutely love doing, and I get so much out of it. I think I get far more out of it than I put into it.’
If you are interested in volunteering any of your time to helping Dentaid give back to vulnerable communities, click here to find out more or email ukclinics@dentaid.org.
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