Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

N owadays, health-care electives are part of many medical degree courses. Not only does the ex- perience help students gain practical knowledge, but it also gives them the chance to expand their horizons and in some cases go abroad and learn how health systems work there. UK dental students Ani- sha Sangha, Catie Michaela Sherlock and Emily Hooper signed up for a dental outreach placement arranged by British organisation Work the World. In summer 2012, the young women travelled to Nepal to provide dental care to people in need. Brighton-based Work the World offers placements abroad to those looking for experience in medicine, dentistry, nurs- ing, midwifery, physiotherapy and radiography. Participants can go to Asia, Africa and South America. Dental students wish- ing to expand their knowledge can choose between a hospital placement and an outreach placement. Anisha (22), Catie (22) and Emily (21) all chose the out- reach placement, which led them to Nepal. The country is one of the poorest in Asia and the fifteenth poorest in the world, with over half the popu- lation surviving on less than US$1.25 a day, according to the British Foreign and Common- wealth Office. “Nepal is a Third World country, one of the poorest countries in the world, and, on research, I found that there is a severe shortage of dentists. I therefore felt that our visit would be very beneficial to the communities there,” Catie told Dental Tribune International. The senior dental student at the University of Leeds mainly aimed at gaining more hands- on experience when entering the programme. Just like fellow student Anisha, she was sent to Pumdi Bhumdi, a village in the centre of Nepal. “We set up our dental camp in a local school in the village. Work the World provided us with portable den- tal chairs and units, including drills, which completely ex- ceeded our expectations, and allowed us to provide more conservative treatment than we thought. We were able to fill many teeth that were decayed rather than simply extract them,” said Catie. Emily, enrolled at the Uni- versity of Bristol, was sent to a temporary clinic set up in a mountainous farming commu- nity overlooking the Annapur- na mountain range, near the city of Pokhara. “There was a lot of interest within the local community to see who we were. We saw patients of all ages, anything from babies to the elderly, some of the latter had never seen a dentist before,” the dental student explained to DTI. “The facilities were basic but serviceable. The building we used was a medical centre, and in half a day it transformed from a quiet, slightly run-down clinic to a dental clinic buzzing with life. We had a generator to provide electricity, which at first proved to be some- what temperamental and that’s when our head torches came in very handy. There were only fast handpieces available, which meant that instead of us- ing the slow handpiece for car- ies removal, we soon had to get used to using spoon excavators for this. Suction wasn’t avail- able, which took a little bit of getting used to, but it only took a look outside to remember that you were in the middle of nowhere.” For the English students, the placement turned out to be a very helpful opportunity to gain a great deal of hands- on experience. “We were su- pervised by a Nepalese dentist. There was a dental hygien- ist there to assist us, and also a member of Work the World staff every day,” said Anisha. “Together, they made sure that we were carrying out dental treatment to the highest stand- ard and that any treatment we undertook was effective and provided a long-lasting result for the patients,” Catie added. Not only did the young women provide dental treat- ment, but they also educated patients about dental health. According to Catie, one of the most important aspects of the volunteers’ trip was to pro- mote oral hygiene to allow the local population to improve their dental health themselves and reduce future dental dis- ease. “After each patient we screened, we reinforced how best to brush their teeth, pro- viding toothbrushes and tooth- paste to those who required them.” Before they left for Nepal, A life-changing experience: UK students provide dental care in Nepal DTI’s Yvonne Bachmann looks at the Work the World initiative Treatment in Pundi Bhumdi, Nepal It’s not all hard work! ‘There was a lot of interest within the local community to see who we were. We saw patients of all ages, anything from babies to the elderly, some of the latter had never seen a dentist before’ A temporary clinc near Pokhara Patients waiting to be seen February 11-17, 201312 Feature United Kingdom Edition