A recent restructure has seen Dentaid take on new expertise in marketing, communications and project management. A number of new part-time staff have joined the charity, based in Landford on the Wiltshire/Hampshire border, offering essential skills without increasing staffing expenditure.
In 2016, its 20th anniversary year, Dentaid plans to increase the number of projects it supports around the world and also launch its Sugar Smart campaign in the UK. The campaign will be aimed at families to help them make sensible choices about sugary foods while highlighting the similarities between the condition of children’s teeth in this country and parts of the developing world. Dentaid is also relaunching its Bright Bites education resource with information and lesson plans for teachers and scientific experiments, an online game and oral health advice for Key Stage 2 pupils.
In the last 20 years Dentaid has worked in 70 countries and is always looking for new projects and areas where it can help. The charity is in the process of finding a team of dentists registered to work in France to travel to the refugee camps near Calais where there is a desperate need for dental care.
Plans are also underway for new projects in Nepal in the aftermath of April’s devastating earthquake. Dentaid volunteer Simon Crewe is travelling to Kathmandu and the mountainous region of Damilakuwa to assess how the charity can set up new clinics and send a team of volunteers to help those suffering dental pain.
In 2016 Dentaid is planning a new volunteering trip to Panama and will continue to send teams of British dental professionals to projects in Uganda, Zimbabwe, Cambodia, Romania and Kenya.
The charity continues to send donated equipment to projects all over the world along with DentaidBoxes and DentaidBags – portable surgeries that can be operated without access to water and electricity.
“This is a really exciting time for Dentaid with both our overseas projects and our fantastic Sugar Smart and Bright Bites campaigns in the UK,” said Andy Evans, strategic director of Dentaid. “We are committed to eradicating dental pain around the world whatever people’s circumstances may be. We are incredibly grateful for the continued support we receive from individuals and organisations and we’re now looking to grow and develop so that we can help even more people who are needlessly suffering dental pain.”