Dental team treats 130 refugees
BRIGHOUSE-BASED TOWN Hall Dental recently returned to Calais and helped more than 100 refugees access vital care.
The private dental practice team were partnered with dentists from Pure Smiles Fulham to help provide treatments.
The expedition was co-funded by local homeless non-profit Focus4Hope and The Town Hall Foundation, the charitable arm of the dental practice, and supported by a £2,000 donation from Moonlight Trust.
Town Hall Dental saw approximately 130 patients in the two-day visit, with treatments ranging from fillings to teeth extractions, the youngest patient they saw was a seven-yearold girl with a severe learning disability.
The team’s work was helped by the community minibus recently launched by Focus4Hope, which was used to treat patients and was bought after a significant fundraising drive including a charity skydive and rock climb.
Rachel Dilley, co-founder of the Town Hall Foundation and practice manager of Town Hall Dental, said: “It’s amazing to be back in Calais, with what we’ve learnt from our previous trips we’ve been able to help even more people access the treatment they deserve.
“Dental and medical treatment is urgently needed for all the men, women and children of the refugee crisis, so being able to give people the care and attention that they’re sorely lacking is an amazing and privileged experience for us.”
Having successfully raised the funds for the minibus, both non-profits will now be working together to purchase a fully functional dental van, providing all the services found in a dental surgery on wheels, which they hope to purchase next year.
The refugee crisis in Calais made headlines in 2016 when the Calais Jungle was dismantled by French authorities.
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