TWO Barry dentists overcame border crossing difficulties to help treat 350 Moroccan children during a charity trip recently.

Louise Bottomer and Gareth Crowther, of Advance Dental Surgery, Barry, also faced language barriers as they attempted to get into the African country.

Dental assistant/receptionist Louise and dentist Gareth were part of Dental Mavericks en route for Asni, a small village in the Atlas Mountains.

Louise and Gareth, of the Highlight Park practice, said: “The other Dental Mavericks were very supportive and helpful and we just learned to leave our dignity at the door and get as silly as possible because if you could get a smile or a giggle out of the kids you knew you’d won and they’d give you as much help as you gave them.

"The kids were fantastic on the whole and so grateful for the help they received.

“Our local competition was a man working as a barber in the middle of the village souk (market) who with one unidentifiable instrument takes teeth out with local anaesthetic provided by tying the patient’s hands to the chair.

“The first day we set up clinic in the Asni village school, setting up basic, but effective collapsible dental chairs and settling out and cold-sterilising the instruments. On the second day we moved the clinic across the valley to another village and set up in the Eve Branson Foundation classroom.”

The clinic was split into two parts with triage, fluoride application and oral hygiene - tooth brushing - instruction, and treatment such as taking teeth out.

Gareth worked with other dentists to triage patients - attempting to ask about the pain before deciding which teeth needed extracting.

Louise assisted nurses in applying the fluoride varnish, giving tooth-brushing instruction and assisting with the extractions.

The 17 UK dentists faced, not only bureaucracy, but the opening and use of restorative equipment which was impounded for 12 months in Marrakech port with five colleagues to be present to open the machines and declare them safe to use.

Gareth said: “This was gutting to us all as next year we can pretty much guarantee several children will be having their permanent front teeth extracted which for the sake of simple restorative treatment today would not have to happen."

However the group had lots of help from several locals willing to assist their mission at considerable inconvenience to themselves 'putting the Moroccan government to shame'.

Said Gareth: "In particular the Mayor who put us up in his home, the caretaker of the school who opened up and helped set up and take-down the clinic, the Eve Branson Foundation local co-ordinator who helped smooth things over with the officials and drove us from and to the airport, a local teacher who interpreted and drove vehicles and the lady who ran the local café who helped with triage and made us our lunchtime tagines.

“We would both describe the trip as the most physically tiring and emotionally draining thing we’ve ever done in the field of dentistry but probably the most rewarding and we’d love to go back and do it again.

“Dental Mavericks is a fantastic cause and well worth supporting and we would like to extend our warmest thanks all who donated or bought raffle tickets in support of the equipment and materials; the collapsible dental chairs though basic are £800 each, not to mention the cost of local anaesthetics, wipes, bibs, kidney bowls etc.

“The results speak for themselves with 350 children treated and hopefully the basic oral hygiene instruction will leave some legacy.”