FEATURE
TOP: The intrepid team (from left); Dr Malcolm Hamilton, dentist; Dr Úna Shields, dentist; Dr Sheena Vyas, oral surgery SpR; Dr Ahmed Zaki Alsaleh, Health Point Foundation co-ordinator; Yahya, translator; Dr Naomi Rahman, oral surgeon; Terza Dilshad, hygienist; Rachna Rai, dental nurse; Amani Za, translator; and, Dr Rayyan Abdulwahed, Health Point Foundation co-ordinator. ABOVE: The best seat in the house! ABOVE RIGHT: Our dental supplies, kindly donated by our sponsors. [We would like to acknowledge and thank our sponsors, without whom this trip would not have been possible: Pamex; Dental Care Ireland; Curaprox; Happythreads; Coincidental; and, Colgate (who provided us with toothpaste). RIGHT: Treating a patient. 92
Journal of the Irish Dental Association | April/May 2017 : Vol 63 (2)
quickly arrived at our door. Úna treated a young girl who had not slept in a month due to toothache. She needed a root canal treatment on an upper central incisor. Her parents were not in the camp so she was living with her siblings. We were all glad she at least got a good night’s sleep that night. A Syrian man I treated who spoke good English found out that I love dogs. He returned to the clinic later with a puppy for me to play with and gave me his lunch food rations as thanks for his treatment. I was so touched by this heartfelt gesture. Our third day found us in Nea Kavala Camp, close to the Macedonian border. We managed to fit the three massage chairs into the storage unit so we were all warm! Again we gave some children oral hygiene instruction and toothpaste.
Extraordinary experience Every evening we met up with our whole team of co-ordinators, translators and clinical workers and had amazing Greek mezze dinners in Thessaloniki town. The food was beautiful, fresh and inexpensive. We all really bonded on this trip and formed firm friendships as we spent so much time together. We are all still in touch on a WhatsApp group and Facebook. If you’d like more information, please visit www.dentaid.org or www.healthpointfoundation.