handful of winterised accommodation containers being put into camps .
I must also pay tribute to the health point volunteers on the ground who were up until midnight in their apartment cleaning and sterilising the equipment in an ancient hot air steriliser , ready to be used the next day . The camaraderie and good cheer of the four other dentist volunteers was marvellous and the skills shown in taking out teeth that would , in the UK , have been referred on . However , in Greece if you don ’ t get it out no one else will . At the end of most clinical sessions , in the time allowed before all volunteers have to leave , football and volleyball would be played , if there was space , or we would attempt a dance or cuddle a new born baby .
WHO WILL PROVIDE THE MEDICAL AID ? People ask why the Greeks don ’ t provide dental care for the refugees . As we all know , Greece is in financial crisis . Little is provided for Greeks themselves and many cannot afford basic dental or medical treatment as there is very little state healthcare . This contributes to the ill feeling in many places between locals and refugees .
My experience in the camps made me grateful that I had a skill that I could use , albeit in primitive and difficult conditions , to get people out of pain . However , it has made me very , very angry that , in Europe in the 21st century , we can consign over 80,000 people to live in such a way for the foreseeable future . Parents in the camps despair because , despite the importance they place on education , they can see their children running feral , with nothing to do all day , nowhere to go , no education , no proper health care and tensions increasing each day .
CAN YOU HELP ? WILL YOU HELP ? I would urge people to contact Dentaid ( dentaid . org ) to volunteer for a weekend or longer . They will arrange paperwork , accomodation , transport etc at a cost of circa £ 550 . Alternatively , if you are a bit more independent and just need registration and paperwork sorting out and can arrange your own transport and accommodation , healthpointfoundation . org will register volunteers direct .
We are privileged that we have a skill that we can use to help some of the most vulnerable people . At a time when many of us are utterly fed up with the paperwork and bureaucracy of dentistry in the U . K .,
Typical living conditions , 6 to 8 people in each tent , Radestos Vasilika
Donna Jackson and Khadija Bakali , dentists from Dentaid setting up clinic
to go to somewhere where you are stripped down to the absolute minimum to give relief to so many is a great reminder of why many of us chose to go into the profession .
It is a greater privilege to be able to treat as human beings , people who have suffered so much and are continuing to be demonised and stigmatised , particularly in the Press .
Perhaps as a legacy from my NHS and GA days , I was grateful that even a middle aged , gammy legged dentist could stand in a tent and at the end of a day have seen a stream of people , relieved them of a great number of teeth and done something to make their lives a tiny bit better . You could too , even if all you do is chuck a few pennies in Dentaid ’ s direction .
DR DONNA JACKSON BDS
l Dr Donna Jackson q��l�fied ���e����l �� 1988� She h�� ����ed �� �he ���e ���ed �������e �� ����h ��le� f�� �he ���� 27 �e��� �l�����de �e��� ���e �h��� �f � �h��e ��e e�h��� �������ee� �����l���� �� ������� �e�e���h ��d ���l��� ����e���� l�������� �e��� �h��� �f ������� �h�����e�� ��l���ee����� ����ell��� ��d �l����� ���� �������e �� � ����� ���d� ����l : �����h�����de���l�����l����
30 Dental Practice Magazine