Travelling dental surgery helps those struggling most

It can be a challenge to find an NHS dentist with spaces and for those who may be homeless or struggling financially, dental care is often an afterthought.

But one charity is hoping to ease the burden with its fleet of mobile dental units with a van dedicated to covering the north west of England.

Dentaid The Dental Charity began in 2015 and has since grown into a national charity delivering more than 1,300 outreach dental clinics providing free care.

"It's a difficult situation. A lot of people are struggling to access care," said Ryan Burrows from Dentaid.

"We're talking about people who may not have seen a dentist in years even decades because of the issues that they have with their living situation, struggling to be able to hold down a steady job or a home.

"We just know that there are always going to be people out there in need of our help."

The mobile unit has recently stationed itself in a city centre car park in Preston in Lancashire.

The unit travels to charities which support people experiencing homelessness, harm, poverty and abuse.

"It's been a very busy morning, I think we've seen about six patients so far," said dentist Neil Airey.

"A lot of them were mainly suffering with toothache, not been to the dentist in quite a long time.

"They've waited really until the teeth have really crumbled and there's not much left and then they're in severe pain and just want help with that really."

For Neil, he feels fortunate to be able to offer that help where it's desperately needed.

"I enjoy volunteering my time, maybe a couple of times a year, and I think it's very rewarding," he said.

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