A Truro-based dental team and their 13-year-old daughter are preparing to return to Kenya for a second time to participate in a two-week voluntary trip, providing essential dental care to local tribes.

The family from Oak House Dental Practice, consisting of practice owner, Dr Andrew Ridout, his wife and trained dental nurse, Lisa Ridout, and their eldest daughter, Georgie, are volunteering their time and expertise for a charity trip to Kenya this November with several other dental professionals. The trip is being organised by UK-based charity, Smile Star.

This is the second trip Andrew and Lisa have made to the region – they also took part in a self-funded trip for Smile Star in November 2015. During their time in the Serengeti, Andrew and Lisa with the team were able to see and treat over 1,400 people over ten days, as well as providing routine examinations in local schools and oral hygiene advice for the children.

Andrew said: “We first became involved with the Smile Star Charity, after meeting with the charity founder, Mitesh Badiani a few years ago. There is just one dentist for every 44,000 people in Kenya, compared to one dentist for every 1,560 people in the UK, so it is clear that there is a massive need for dental care in Kenya.

“We first visited Kenya in November, and as part of a team of ten, we managed to treat over 1,400 locals. Despite the work being very intense, it was very satisfying how many people we were able to treat during our time in Kenya that would otherwise not have had access to treatment, often in remote locations with poor facilities.

“The majority of the work involved the removal of broken down teeth and retained roots which were causing them problems, often in challenging conditions with little more than a garden chair, head torch and our hand instruments. We also handed out hundreds of toothbrushes and tubes of toothpaste during our visit - quite a novelty for many as traditionally the local tribes chew on the Salvadora persica twig as a natural toothbrush.”

The UK-based charity and organiser of the trip, Smile Star, was created in 2010 with the objective of providing free dental care to ex-Royal Marines in the UK and deprived communities in Africa, India and Uganda. The founder, Dr Mitesh Badiani, relies on the help of highly qualified dental professionals to offer free dental care to some of the most disadvantaged and remote communities in Africa.

Andrew added: “We are returning again in November for another two weeks, and we will be taking our eldest daughter with us to experience this amazing country, meet the local population and tribes, provide acute dental care and of course see and learn about the amazing wildlife there. Georgie will be helping us with the work we provide and of course helping with the local children, which she is very excited about.”

To help fund the trip, Andrew and Lisa have organised a number of fund raising events including a coffee morning and talk on their last visit to Kenya, at Ponsanooth Hall, Ponsanooth on Saturday July 23. The couple hope to raise around £1,000 towards the trip, to enable them to take additional toothbrushes, toothpastes and other sundries for distribution during their visit.