Page 18 - link magazine

1 8 The Link Magazine • October 2004
Swindon Smile Menders become stars in Ukraine
Two Swindon dentists and their wives have become celebrities in the Cherkassy region of the Ukraine in recognition of their charity work,
and their fame is spreading throughout the dental community in Britain and to other countries.
Fiveyears ago Brendon Ball from ment and materials and to offer = He added that Smile Mend-
theFreshbrookDentalPracticeand training for dentists. rs will soon take over a re-
orthodontist Richard Swift made Since then, Brendon married , dundant Wiltshire Health Au-
their first trip to the city of their translator Natasha, and has -- .;K thority self-drive dental clinic,
Cherkassy to deliver dental equip- returned several times with Ri F ` - which they will convert to left
chard and Linda Swift. Together R" hand drive and deliver to
they have formed a charity: Ukraine next year.
Is your PC Smile Menders. In early September Brendon
bugging you? Their interest was first stimu- and Richard spent a weekend
lated by stories in The Link about _ , ° dismantling a complete dental
Call Practical the charity Dentaid which was '' surgery donated by a retiring
Applications Ltd. 0 active inCherkassy.Ontheirfirst dentist to be sent to Cuba
for a friendly service visit in 1999 Brendon and Rich- ' ° through contacts made by Dr
and discovered that dentistry _. Kandiah at Sparcells surgery.
Upgrades 0 Repairs
was decades behind the West Five years on Brendon is
Networking & the Internet and dentists worked with poor pleased with the impact Smile
Home visits, collection
& delivery materials, and rarely used pain — Menders is making to people
killers, even for extractions, who have little access to dental
Or for help getting started, call Dental care was non-existent care. "Ukraine was recovering
us days, evenings or weekends on in rural areas of the Cherkassy Bringing smiles to the Ukraine from Communism on our first
01793 321361 region, which is the size of Wales. "The only restriction is the state visit. Capitalism is now rampant,
Mobile 07919 263072 They set themselves the ambi- of the roads which break up badly but the mafia embedded itself dur-
E-mail: [email protected] tious task of fitting out a mobile in the minus 20C frost. The tow ing the changeover between sys-
www.practicalapplications.co.uk clinic and buying a 4 wheel drive vehicle had to have new suspen- tems. The rich are even better off
towing vehicle. In 2002 they made sion fitted after pot hole damage." and the have-nots are a lot poorer.
the 1 500 mile tri to de li ver it and Brendan and Richard were de- Ho efull our efforts to support
P
Y
p
have kept the caravan supplied lighted to hear that the caravan our contact Dr Kovolenko and his
with materials ever since, was first used to provide dental colleagues is contributing to their
A visit in August was the first care in the areas of the Cherkassy welfare.
opportunity for Brendon and Ri- region most severely affected by "Just as important is to recog-
chard to see the caravan in use and the Chernobyl nuclear reactor dis- nise how much assistance we have
meet the dentists who use it. "We aster ten years ago. received from businesses in and
were treated like celebrities with a Brendon also made a visit to the around Swindon, as well as the
TV crew following us around," British Embassy in the Ukraine health authority, and the volun-
said Brendon. "The caravan is in capital Kiev to discuss a visa for an teers who have become involved
pristine condition. Because of the engineer from Cherkassy to train with Smile Menders. Their sup-
severe weather it was off the road in Swindon this Autumn. He said, port has been vital."
for several months so the health "a lot of dental and medical equip- The Smile Menders crew, from left,
department added extra polysty- ment is available there but is not Natasha and Brendon Ball, Linda and
rene under the floor and were given used because few people know Richard Swift pointing out their logo on
permission to use more heaters how to mend it; sometimes it the side of the unit in Ukraine
which means staff can now work just requires a simple repair n
all winter without their feet freez- or parts replacement.
ing to the floor. "The health department ^'1
has identified a 'Mr Fixit'
Valerie Perokovsky who will y f
be trained by Swindon based a
swiNDON medical and dental equip-
ment maintenance company
^^, MDSS. Smile Menders will
support Valerie whilst he is
here and pay his family i
With 250 bikes Cherkassy." ;.
on show
THE price is right
THE parking is free
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for Xmas
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ft y .^ [^l`^.
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