A couple of weeks ago Andie and I had the opportunity of visiting the Christian Dental Fellowship (CDF) Conference.
It was great to be able to meet so many friends and colleagues again that have encouraged us and supported the Bridge2Aid team over the years while we were in Tanzania.
I was inspired again by some of the stories of so many people within CDF who have sacrificially given of themselves to go overseas and pioneer or develop oral health care programmes to marginalised communities.
I am grateful to those people who inspired me as a young student at Edinburgh University to look beyond the four walls of my surgery to see those opportunities where my skills could make a huge difference to the lives of those in developing nations.
Not everybody has the opportunity to go overseas and there are many people within the dental profession who work incredibly hard in their dental practices here in the UK to also make a difference to the lives of those communities around them locally.
Where we can and where we have the opportunity to contribute to the problem that three quarters of the world’s population does not have access to that simple pain relieving extraction, I believe we can make a huge difference and a long-term difference.
I am grateful to the members of CDF who will continue to support Mark and Jo, Paul and Beth and the rest of the bridge2aid team.
Looking forward to the conference next year
