Support for charity mission

During this mission, which has also been supported by dental materials provider Voco, seven volunteers (four of whom were dentists) took care of more than 620 patients in nine days in remote rural areas of Myanmar. In addition, aftercare education was given.

Myanmar has poor dental services. There is no access to dentistry and oral neglect is rife with no oral health education. Many of the people are unable to afford or access dental treatment. Following a chance encounter whilst on holiday in Myanmar in 2012, Sharon Bierer and Henrik Overgaard-Nielsen organised a trip to Inle Lake in November 2012, to provide dental care to orphans at the Mein Thauk orphanage. Accompanied by two Burmese dentists and Mrs Lesley Naismith, senior manager of Henry Schein’s practice solutions affiliate Software of Excellence in the UK, they treated more than 1,200 patients around Lake Inle. As a result of this successful trip, Burmadent was founded and registered as a charity in the United Kingdom in January 2013.