Volunteers work in refugee camps in Greece

Amir Badrbeigi a dentist at Chapel Park Dentistry in St Leonards-on-Sea, was joined by Laura Bailey, a nurse at the same practice; Laura Westbrook, a nurse at DBS Larkhill, near Salisbury; and Dentaid’s Kerry Crook on the trip to camps at Nea Kavala and Cherso, from July 1-3.

The team worked alongside Health-Point Foundation and The Red Cross to provide emergency treatment for refugees who had been suffering dental pain for months.  Working in a tent with temperatures reaching 40 degrees, the team triaged, treated and provided aftercare for their patients.  On the first day, 38 people received dental treatment and 48 refugees were seen on the second day.  Most needed extractions and had developed complex dental problems since fleeing their homes.

“It was an incredible experience and the refugees were lovely people who genuinely appreciated the help we gave them,” said UK and European projects manager for Dentaid, Kerry Crook.

“The team was brilliant and worked together in difficult conditions to treat as many people as they could.  They saw adults and children, many of whom had badly rotten teeth and had been living in awful pain.  These people had left their homes in Syria and Iraq, walked well over a thousand miles to reach Turkey and travelled to Greece by boat – they had arrived with nothing.  We know there are several other camps in the area where people need dental treatment and we’ll be sending more volunteers to Greece in the near future.”