TWO members of staff from a Kingsbridge dental practice travelled to Kenya last month to provide free dental care with the charity Smile Star.

Kasia Stawowy, a dentist and Millie Gordon, a dental nurse from Kingsbridge Dental Centre, spent two weeks providing basic treatment to people in remote rural villages.

Based in Ashburton, Smile Star provides free, quality dental care to disadvantaged communities in poor regions of Africa and India, as well as former Royal Marines in the UK.

Kasia and Millie gave basic treatment to 1,000 patients while in Kenya and were working in small villages that hadn’t seen dentists before.

They didn’t have the necessary equipment to do fillings, but could refer patients to local dentists who could.

Kasia and Millie were part of a group of ten people, with four nurses, four dentists and two people who sterilised instruments on a pressure cooker.

The group was supported by Masia-Mara warriors who translated for them and took them to the villages.

And Kasia and Millie brought gifts of pencils and crayons along with them to give to children they met.

Kasia and Millie raised £1,600 for Smile Star in anticipation of the trip, including £500 from a fundraising evening at the Crabshell, organised by Amanda Burwell from Poshtotti.

They paid £2,000 to cover flights and expenses, and some of this money goes towards the charity’s work providing basic dental treatment.

Millie said: ‘It has been an amazing opportunity and a wonderful experience, so we want to say thank you to all those who donated to make this trip happen.’

Kasia said: ‘Thanks to Amanda Burwell at Posh Totti, who organised the fundraising at the Crabshell. And thanks to all the patients at Kingsbridge Dental Centre who supported us.

‘We’re very grateful to all who donated, and I’m hoping to do it again in the future.’