Christian Relief Uganda's Dental Ministry Aim is to facilitate qualified Ugandan dental staff (who have the skills, but not the resources) to offer treatment in the remote rural areas.

To achieve this Aim, our Objectives are:

1. To establish regular working links with the indigenous dental personnel.

2. To recruit UK dental volunteers willing not only to staff pain relief clinics during 2-3 week trips to Uganda, but to pass on their surgical and educational expertise to the local health workers.

3. To promote oral health education to local teachers, health workers and communities.

4. To donate specialist dental equipment or offer on long-term loan.

5. To organise regular trips to Uganda to realise these goals.

6. To raise funding for trips, specific dental projects, equipment and materials.

7. To publicise the work of CRU’s Dental Ministry through regular articles in the local and dental press.

Our Criteria for Success:

To assess each trip for

a) The number of patients treated and influenced by the oral health education talks given;
b) The number of indigenous dental personnel working with UK team;
c) The quantity and type of equipment provided.

Click here for dental volunteer information

When Barbara Koffman first got involved with CRU, her dental hygiene experience and education training showed her a need to promote and facilitate the development of dental services in Uganda. Since that time she has worked tirelessly to raise funds for dental projects.

These projects started on a small scale with the support of a local dentist in Kamuli. Through the regular generosity of a UK sponsor, the dentist was able to visit the children regularly at Maria’s Care and surrounding villages. In addition to this direct dental care, Barbara also ran many sessions on the teaching of oral hygiene using a kapanga (stick toothbrush from the Bush), along with many visual aids and songs.These limited activities have since been expanded to the renovation of a basic dental surgery at Kamuli and expansion of the dental health promotion work.

After much perseverance and dedication Barbara secured, through lengthy negotiation, the provision of much needed dental surgery accommodation and access to a dentist at a new hospital being built at Namwendwa (some 30 miles from Kamuli). Then through her fundraising efforts and the support of Dentaid - www.dentaid.org - she managed to equip and furnish the accommodation provided. The surgery was officially opened in spring 2005.
Since then, there has been a substantial donation towards dental work & after consultation with local government officials in the area it was decided to use this money to put basic equipment in 4 rural government health clinics in Kamuli District. These clinics have no electricity, but the provision of forceps, sterilizer & local anaestheticis is a vast improvement on the previous situation. Barbara was able to buy this equipment in Uganda which had the added benefit of boosting the local economy.

We look forward through your donations and support to continue assisting where we can in developing these services and expanding the health promotion work.
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Click here for an update on the dental projects