Castle Park Dental

	“The Tooth And Nothing But The Tooth” By Chris “Dr Smile Maker” Branfield It’s Been A Whole 5 Years Of Dental Mavericks
Hello again, I hope you are well.  It’s been another busy month.  I went out to Morocco with Dental Mavericks for our 8th mission to get kids out of pain.  It doesn’t get any easier but by heck it is worth it. Naïve Beginnings In 2010 a team of 7 including 4 dentists who had never met before went to the Village of El Jabah, at the foot of the Rif Mountains in North East Morocco, with the intention of improving oral health of the children there.  Well, what a shock!!  The kids’ teeth were terrible and many of them were in pain.  That first year we had to follow the lead of a small contingent from a Moroccan dental school.  It was heart breaking, especially in the morning.  By the afternoon we got to work ourselves and there was more fun and it felt like a lot more love in the room.  It was just a classroom with small wooden chairs (backache city).
Looking a bit younger in 2010
Building On Foundations We went a further three times to El Jabah.  There were always challenges.  Getting the licence every year was one challenge. Getting our equipment through customs was another.  Even with all the proper documentation from the ministry of health it was a problem. On the 3rd trip the trailer was impounded for 3 days.  We eventually got it and off to work we went.  We were still just fire fighting and getting children out of pain but gaining more and more trust. The group got larger and we had some regulars so we could get set up quickly and run a really efficient clinic.  We now had collapsible chairs to use (no more backache).
A proper little clinic
More Challenges We love seeing the kids and making a difference by getting them out of pain. However, our goal was to improve oral health through education and support with toothbrushes and toothpaste.  We needed buy-in from the school we were working with and the community.  Unfortunately, we did not get it. Now we are all self funded and it really did grate a bit when the teachers in the school wanted money off us. Oh dear, it does make me sad.  Even the guy at the “Hotel” tried it on with the money side.  Not Giving Up In June 2014 we went to the Atlas Mountains for the first time.  We went to the village of Asni were we worked with The Eve Branson Foundation (Richard Branson’s mum).  This was very much more organised as they helped a lot and we saw loads and loads of children.  We had sourced and ordered some portable dental units and had them sent by international courier.  They didn’t arrive.  They got stuck at customs for 11 months with a substantial ransom to pay for their release. We paid it but couldn’t unpack them until 18 months after buying them.   Oh, it is frustrating at times.
Asni Mavericks, we broke records here
Making Allegiances Back in Rif in September 2014 we teamed up with Rif Com,  a charity that does community projects for communities in the Rif Mountains.  They had just built a school in Khizana, and that’s where we went. This felt so right as we immediately had buy-in from the headmaster and we gained a lot of trust very quickly.  We were still just getting children out of pain but our educational message was taken on board.   At last our “Teeth For Life Initiative” seemed get some local support!  My son Edward came on this trip when he was 18.  He did well and he’s been on the two after that as well. Up In The Atlas Again Earlier this year in May we went back to Asni  to work with The Eve Branson Foundation.  Again we broke records in the number of children we saw and treated.  There was some confusion here, as we had a licence, then we didn’t then we did!  It’s never straight forward and simple here.  We ended up working in the Eve Branson craft place which was a bit weird.  A few of us climbed Mount Toubkal as a fund raiser (4167m up and down in 2 days, ouch)

Happy to get teeth out	Edward getting stuck in

A Big Breakthrough A couple of weeks ago I got back from Khizana on the 8th trip. There was a football tournament that was massive for kids.  We had, along with other dental practices sponsored a team.  We had Khizana Oranges.  I think they came last.  The funny thing was it was supposed to be a 12 and under competition.  One of our team members had a beard!! There was a bit of a going on that led to him leaving the pitch. Quite right though.  This was such a good relationship building exercise.
Spot the beard	Learning how to brush
Some kids are just cool	A great team of people
Then next morning I went with Cally, a fellow trustee who organises mavericks, to see the minister for health in ChefChaouen.  We were so close to not getting the licence but a great fellow called Mohammed who is a bit of an activist really helped us out and we got it.  The Minister came to see us work and we are now looking at a rolling on licence to stop all the messing about all the time.  Good stuff, eh? He Spotted Us Last year there was a young lad who had large infection in his upper and lower jaws with buried decayed tooth roots. His face was swollen and could get really ill.  I managed to get all the offending roots out and he was so chuffed.  He spotted Edward and myself at the football tournament.  A great moment.  He was Goalkeeper on the winning team!
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 22 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 charity work go here now www.castleparkdental.co.uk