North Derbyshire pair get their teeth into Cambodia mission

Catherine Ashley and daughter Abbey, from Wingerworth, spent two weeks working in schools, slums and prisons with the charity DENTAID.

They were initially based in a school on the outskirts of the capital Phnom Penh, helping clinicians treat children and their families, as well as providing oral health education.

Catherine and Abbey then spent four days in a women’s prison seeing an average of 50-60 patients a day and visited remote villages.

“We were working with very basic equipment but were able to make a big difference to people in communities that have very little access to dental care,” said Catherine, a nurse at one80dental centre for advanced dentistry on Baslow Road, Totley, Sheffield.

“Tooth decay is such a huge problem in Cambodia. Many people can’t afford treatment so the state of teeth and dental health is very poor but everyone was so grateful for our help.”

During their stay Catherine and Abbey also bought, cooked and delivered food to slums helping to feed local children.