“The Tooth And Nothing But The Tooth”
By Chris “Dr Smile Maker” Branfield
On Top Of The World
Hello again. I hope that you are well. Another busy month, phew! I’ve just got back from Morocco getting kids out of pain up in the Morocco . This was a collaboration with the Local Health Authority in Chef Chaouen province.
It Felt Like Being On Top Of The World
We got more remote than ever before needing 4x4’s to get us to some places. We all worked really hard and put our heart and souls into it. Another great team of people and our largest team yet. In fact our British team split into 2 teams for 4 out of the 5 days of working so we could get to as many people in need as we could. We saw almost 3000 children and every one received fluoride treatment, oral health advice, a toothbrush and toothpaste. In fact with our Moroccan colleagues about 6000 kids received this. We actively treated many hundreds children in pain and took thousands of abscessed teeth out. Bless ‘em.
Not 2 Halfpennies To Rub Together
People here are really poor and there has been a lot of resentment towards the government. Everybody we worked with was so friendly and appreciative though. The kids, teachers and parents were lovely.
And Breathe
Communication and rapid trust building with the kids is always key. We did have lots of help from interpreters when required but the main thing is keeping eye, verbal and even tactile contact and always asking if they are OK (“cava or labass”). The other thing that is massive to show empathy and understanding is breathing. This works wonders for relaxation. We all forget to just breathe and just “be” to relax. I do not know how to spell this but the word for “breathe,” phonetically is “sniffez”. We were all saying and doing it and really elaborating on it to add a bit of humour. “Humanisation”.
Not Lost In Translation
We discussed the role of interpreters and it works best just to do the minimum to allow an “in “ for the dental team so they can start and develop a trusting relationship, heart to heart, human-to-human. One young Moroccan interpreter got it when I explained. He said “emotional content”. Bob on!! It’s all about that and humanising every step of the process, stripped right back to basics. Formal language is then secondary.
A Massive Big Thank You
A heart felt thank you to the ladies who give me knitting to take out to the poor families. You know who you are! Also thank you to everyone who has donated money, toothbrushes and toothpaste. It’s great for us all to be involved in helping people and really trying to leave a legacy of impact on peoples lives for the good.
Certificate Time
As I mentioned this was a joint venture with the local authority and many bridges were built. We had to sit through a really long speech and ceremony of certificates. My name was spelt wrong. I should have done my usual ,“ think branflakes but field instead”.
Until next time. Take care and be good.
Chris Branfield is Principal Dentist at Castle Park Dental Care, Castle Villa, 28 Castle Road, Cottingham, telephone 01482 772550. He has been in dental practice for 24 years and has a special interest in life changing, pain free dentistry with dental implants, rapid teeth straightening and cosmetic dentistry. And, not only that Chris is founder member and trustee of Dental Mavericks charity- ending the daily dental pain of Moroccan kids. For more patient success stories and Chris’s humanitarian work go here now www.castleparkdental.co.uk
