Volunteers unite

The BDA Conference is with us again and for those of us intending to visit there is always the dilemma of what to see and which lectures to attend. There is also the possibility of those missed presentations due to the often overwhelming choice. Most of us also consider ourselves to be generous and charitable so this year at BDA Conference there is the opportunity to gain information about some of our dental charities. There are the very well known ones, Bridge2Aid, Dentaid, Smile Train as well as less well publicised Teeth Relief/Sunnymeade Trust and others not as well known but who all strive to improve the oral health of developing countries.

The history behind this meeting in May 2011, follows the desire to limit overlap and duplication of aid that was occurring with so many of the smaller dental charities. In 2008 Dermot O'Brien a dentist from Wiltshire, who works in Burkina Faso, wrote an article suggesting that it would be beneficial if there was an organised network of UK based Non Government Organisations (NGOs) and charities whose work included oral health improvements in developing countries, as one of their objectives.