Helping the Homeless 2018
Recently our society had the chance to provide volunteers to Crisis at Christmas mobile dental units, where our members had the opportunity to run the reception area- a role which involved greeting the guests and making them feel comfortable, alongside taking patient's histories and keeping track of paperwork.
Crisis is a national organisation that provides services and support to the UK's homeless population, whilst also
campaigning on their behalf and encouraging shifts in negative societal impressions on this population. Their overall goal is to end homelessness and provide help to those in need as quickly and effectively as possible- which is the essence behind their current campaign "Everybody In." https://campaigns.crisis.org.uk/page/24880/petition/1?ea.tracking.id=CaC18
Despite the constant quick turnover of patients and the challenging task of prioritising certain treatments over others, the dentists and dental nurses were always seen with a smile on their face and spreading Christmas cheer both on duty and off, with some even getting involved with making decorations for the reception area. It certainly was a rewarding experience to see how someone's day could be made simply by having a check-up and scale and polish, or by extracting a tooth which was causing pain for a large amount of time. As a lot of the guests used Crisis as their one chance per year to get seen by the dental team, the impact on a community which is more vulnerable to untreated health problems can clearly be seen. The kind words from the patients were well appreciated and spurred the whole team on when they were feeling the strain of trying to see as many patients as possible within a set amount of days.
"I really enjoyed volunteering with the dental team this year at Crisis at Christmas. Getting to know the lovely guests, helping during the festive period and the opportunity to get involved with community dentistry made my experience truly rewarding."- Gianne Williams BDS2
"Volunteering at Crisis over Christmas was such a rewarding and insightful experience! From the speed at which dentures are made from impression to fit to the glee on people’s faces as the dental work they’d been waiting a year to have is finally complete, it was so interesting to experience dentistry in a safe and comfortable setting with a vulnerable population, an opportunity we do not get often at dental school." - Megna Shah BDS4
"Volunteering as a dental receptionist at Crisis at Christmas was a truly rewarding and eye opening experience. On the dental reception I answered any queries the guests had, took medical histories, gave post-op and oral hygiene advice, handed out lots of dental freebies and engaged in interesting conversations with the guests while they waited for treatment. The guests were all so grateful for their treatment- we even had a guest write a hand written letter of gratitude to the dentist after just having a simple scale and polish! The team lead, dental nurses, dentists and receptionists were all so lovely all worked so well as a team which made the 2 days I volunteered run so smoothly! Will definitely be volunteering again next Christmas!" - Kajal Tutt BDS4
For more information on Crisis, and to get involved, visit https://www.crisis.org.uk/about-us/
Earlier in the academic year, Smile Society also visited a homeless soup kitchen- which proved to be both an enjoyable and eye-opening experience for our volunteers that attended. Overall we gave out over 150 toothbrushes, 200 toothpastes, oral health promotion leaflets, 102 warm socks and 20 denture fixatives to those who needed it. Volunteers said it was “an extremely rewarding experience” and that they felt as though “they had been able to make a difference and experience dentistry in a different light.”
We would like to thank Linda Perry from GSK and Beverly from Guy’s Dental Hospital, who donated some of the items we handed out and to the Smile Society volunteers who gave up their time for a great cause!
