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See us on the net © www.swindonlink.com The Link Magazine • September 1999 47
Dentists plan to offer more help after Ukraine visit

The two Swindon dentists who visited Ukraine on a two week mercy trip, inspired by articles in The Link, returned safe and sound
in early August, eyes opened by their experience and wanting to do more to help children who suffer from inexperienced dentists
in the old Soviet empire.
With his Ford Galaxy conditions in which den- Two big charity events
packed with donated tal work is carried out, have been held at the Chi-
equipment and supplies, using antiquated drills nese Experience restau-
Brendon Ball, right, of the • and without pain killers. rant to raise money to buy
Freshbrook dental sur- Their introduction to the and refurbish the house.
gery, departed on 21 July. reality at the Cherkassy Brendon and Richard
He was accompanied by children's dental hospital intend to continue their
orthodontist Richard was far worse than they contact with Cherkassy
Swift from the Milton expected. and plan to become in-
Road practice. "The first thing we no- volved in dentist educa-
Crossing Europe was unevent- ticed was the awful smell of blood, tion.
ful, apart from donating a Domi- fillings and soiled dressings in "The dentists we met
no's Pizza hat to a border guard to open containers, in hot weather appreciated that we were
get into Poland, and a four hour and in full view of patients," said clinicians and they ac-
night-time hold up at customs to Brendon. "Then there were the cepted that they could use
cross into Ukraine. screams of the children, rigid with a different approach to patients, thulics and modern materials.
"It really was like a Le Carre fear. I was really shocked at the particularly children." Dentists and nursing staff also re-
novel, officious border guards, violence being used and had to "The contrast between the two quire training in modern methods."
dimly lit buildings, no signs any- walk out on the first morning." clinics we visited made it clear that With the help of Hope Now,
where, people standing around Things improved when they there is no policy on dental stand- Brendon and Richard want to bring
looking mysterious," said Brendon. were able to talk to dentists and ards; the way a clinic is run is a dentist from Ukraine to Swindon
"We had to use all our diplomatic give demonstrations. "Initially determined by whoever is in early next year to give practical
skills to argue that our papers were they were suspicious as they charge. They have enough equip- experience which he or she can
in order. My New Zealand pass- thought we were engineers. The ment but there is a need for anaes- take back.
port seemed hardly worth any- first thing we did was replace bro-
thing which upset me somewhat." ken light bulbs and install some Swindon dentists at work in Ukraine
equipment in a sur- Talk and slide show by Brendon Ball & Richard Swift
gery; they don't do Wednesday 22 September, 7.30pm
that. But barriers
were broken down Freshbrook Church, Worsely Road
when we started to All invited.
discuss clinical tech- Donations to support training of a Ukrainian dentist in Swindon
niques and to show
them how to use the
modern materials
we had brought with J\gw (Experien.ce ' _, A
us. They are used to 4(
drilling and filling Visit the largest traditional pagoda
large holes with poor Chinese Restaurant set in over two acres of
ch soon falls out. beautiful grounds overlooking Peatmoor Lagoon
ered that their mobile 'phones did "We emphasised that treatments
not work. Cut off and not under- will last longer with modern mate- Disco/Karaoke evenings*
standing any Russian or the cyrillic rials if they work slowly and put
road signs, their gloom only lifted the patient at ease. It was reward- Friday 17th September
when they contacted their transla- ing that the next day one of the Friday I st, 8th, 15th & 29th October
tor in the capital Kiev, before trav- sceptical dentists said he had used Friday 5th & 26th November
elling on to the regional capital the filling we had provided and Price £20 (f 15 for Privilege Card Holders)
Cherkassy - after being stopped his patient was a lot more comfort- * Includes a mouth watering three course meal
several times by traffic police - able with the dental experience."
where they were to work with lo- On the last day in Cherkassy, Spec 11^•
cal dentists. Brendon and Richard were taken Friday 3rd & 10th September
In the end, taking out travelling to a smaller clinic in the city where Friday 22nd October
and time wasted on bureaucracy, they discovered a totally different Friday 12th & 19th November
Brendon and Richard were only atmosphere. "The flowers at re-
able to do four days practical work. ception and dental information Moon Istiva
"It was very frustrating when made it more like a western prac-
Friday 24th September: Chinese Acrobats follower
we were held up for a whole day tice. It was clean and hygienic, gourmet dinner. Come and see the moon rise abo
unpacking all the equipment, ac- efficiently run, they were using
counting for it to local customs donated equipment and were mak- beautiful lagoon while enjoying the free mooncakes.
officials, then seeing it impounded ing an effort to put patients at ease." ii
in a storeroom for closer inspec- The other bright spot in their
tion later," explained Brendon. "It visit was meeting workers from E
was also very disappointing to see Hope Now, a sister charity to Den-
equipment delivered earlier by taid. It has run an orphanage for I Pepperbox Hill, Peatmoor,West Swindo
Dentaid still in store, but some of several years and with financial Telephone 01793 877888 Fax 01793 87388
the hospital staff were canny help from a group of Swindon peo-
enough to see that the essential ple are opening Swindon House, a Prices may be subject to 10% service charge
materials were taken elsewhere." home for teenagers so that they do Sunday lunch: £9.90 only
Before the trip he and Richard not have to live on the streets, take
had been made aware of the crude up crime or go into prostitution. Christmas & NewYear party bookings now being taken