Improving oral health in Zimbabwe

Monica Zendera, a Dental Therapist within the Trust’s Salaried Dental Service, recently travelled to Zimbabwe with Dentaid to provide treatment for local residents. 

The trip had an extra special meaning for Monica though, as she explains here.

I was born and raised in Zimbabwe before I moved to the UK in 2003, when I was 15. I first heard about Dentaid at a dentistry conference. The charity had only visited Zimbabwe once before. As soon as I heard about their second visit, I knew I had to get involved. It was my time to give back and help the people of Zimbabwe. 

I started fundraising and, with the help of friends, family, colleagues and well-wishers, I raised over £2,000 to fund my trip.

I was part of a team of four who arrived in Zimbabwe, to provide oral health education and emergency dentistry for local people with no other access to dental care. We worked in schools, orphanages and hospitals, and in some of the most remote and highly deprived areas of Zimbabwe. Altogether, we treated hundreds of patients and talked to them about how to look after their teeth.

In Zimbabwe many people don’t have access to healthcare services. Either they can’t afford the fees or, in the most remote areas, services are not available. Most of the people we saw had never seen a dentist before. They were living in pain. So we worked alongside local dentists to provide outreach clinics.

Our first base was All Soul’s Mission Hospital in Mutoko. Here, we treated 47 patients. The dental unit at All Soul’s was very well equipped, with two fully functioning dental chairs, a decontamination room and on-site dental laboratory. We visited the local orphanage and schools, and also had a chance to visit the Leprosy Centre at Mutemwa Mission. We talked about oral health and gave out toothbrushes, stickers and toys donated to the charity, to around 400 children. Altogether, we spent four days in Mutoko. 

Next, we travelled to Kanyanga. Once here, we worked in a store room at the local health centre. There was no running water or dental facilities, but we still saw and treated over 60 patients. Patients had travelled long distances, on foot, without food or water. They were weak and faint. We had to raise their blood sugar levels before beginning any treatment. We used a sterilant and pressure cooker to clean our instruments and had to work extremely carefully because of the high rates of infectious diseases.

The last half of our trip was spent in Chinhoyi. Our first visit was to Portlet Biri Primary and Secondary School. Here, we saw 180 children, aged 5 to 8-years-old. Again, we did screening, talked about oral health and fluoride varnish application and gave out toothbrushes. We also spent a day with children and carers at the Good Shepherd Orphanage, where we did fillings, extractions, oral health and fluoride varnish education. All the children were given toothbrushes and toy donations.

Our last treatment day was the most challenging though. We arrived at Chinhoyi Hospital to find nearly 200 people waiting! We worked in the hospital’s dental department. Although it was fully equipped, the chair, drills and light were all broken. We were overwhelmed with patients so, to try to reduce the waiting time, we used our portable Dentaid chair as well as ordinary chairs. That day, we saw and treated over 130 patients and extracted approximately 170 teeth.

Despite being smaller than usual, the team was just brilliant. We worked extremely hard. And the host dentists we worked with were amazing - we would not have been able to see as many people as we did without their help. The patients were extremely grateful and very happy. It was very rewarding.

Visit www.dentaid.org or call 01794 324 249 for more information about volunteering oversees with Dentaid.