Ellen Cummings talks to rugby star Laura Keates about her career and new role with Dentaid.
Dentaid recently announced England Women rugby star Laura Keates as its first patron. Laura has been playing rugby since she was 15, and has played at university, club and international level. She has more than 60 caps for England and was part of the team which won the Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2014.
Despite playing a sport which is perhaps better known for knocking out teeth than caring for them, Laura is also a fourth-year dental student at the University of Birmingham. This may seem like an unusual choice – especially considering the dedication that sport and dentistry each require – but Laura explains, “After I graduated from my first degree in 2010, I was working at the sports centre at university so that I could focus on rugby. For the women rugby players back then, you couldn’t do it full time and there was no sign of it going professional. I was looking at lots of different careers and grad schemes. But then my mum was having a load of dental treatment at the time, and every time she’d have an appointment, she’d ring me after and say, ‘Oh, I really think you should be a dentist! You can do so many different things.’ So to please her I went to do some work experience, and I really enjoyed it!”
As for balancing her training with her studies, Laura says, “In a way it’s easy because it’s what I’m used to. Before I started my degree, I was working full time, as all the women rugby players were back then, so I’m quite used to having a lot on. Dentistry has definitely been a lot more full-on and required more time. However, for most of my university career I’ve been injured, so I haven’t necessarily been playing for that long whilst I’ve been at university.”
In March 2021, Laura was announced as Dentaid’s new patron. Speaking of the role she says, “I’m really excited that I will be joining the Dentaid team and am looking forward to being part of the fantastic work they do in helping to improve oral health both here in the UK and abroad. The charity aims to ensure access to safe and sustainable dental care to those people that really need it and has an amazing effect on improving people’s quality of life.”
Dentaid provides equipment, funds outreach clinics and places volunteer dental professionals to deliver dental care both in the UK and abroad. Dentaid’s work in the UK includes its mobile dental units which visit homeless shelters, soup kitchens and community buildings to provide free dental screening, advice and treatment for people who aren’t registered for NHS dental care; public clinics in Kirklees; clinics for fishermen (working alongside the Fishermen’s Mission and The Seafarers Hospital Society); and Bright Bites – an educational resource which teaches children about the importance of looking after their teeth.
However, Dentaid’s roots are in overseas charity work, and it has worked in over 70 countries since its formation in 1996. Some of its successes over the years include the DentaidBox (an entire dental surgery that fits into a wheelie bin), equipment donations (in 2019, Dentaid sent 16 dental chairs to a new dental training school in Malawi), and supporting projects from other organisations. Another
key aspect of Dentaid’s overseas work is enabling volunteer dental professionals to help run outreach clinics in schools, churches, remote communities, prisons, orphanages and refugee camps in Cambodia, Morocco, Malawi and Uganda.
This opportunity to volunteer abroad was one of the factors which encouraged Laura to work with Dentaid. She explains, “After being contacted by Dentaid about being involved with the charity, I looked at them a bit further and I realised that I had actually researched them before because they do some volunteering abroad, which I was really keen to do. I’d already considered working with them anyway, so as soon as they said they were looking for a patron it was a bit of a no brainer!”
Although volunteering opportunities abroad and in the UK may have been limited because of the pandemic, Dentaid still has plenty of fundraising events for Laura to get involved with this year – and they’re perfect for a sportsperson. Events include Dentaid’s 32km virtual challenge, the Salisbury Skydive on September 11, the Great North Run on September 12, the Virtual London Marathon on October 3, and the charity’s first ever Sahara Desert trek on November 11-16.
Kelle Russell, Dentaid’s events fundraising officer, said, “We are delighted to have Laura join us a patron at this really busy and exciting time for Dentaid. There’s also lots to look forward to in women’s rugby and it’s great to have Laura on our team.”