Dentaid Annual Report 2021 (A4 - single page) - Flipbook - Page 5
5
“ When I get
depressed I
pull my own
teeth out ”
Larry’s story
Everywhere we go, we are humbled by the stories our patients tell us about
their lives. So many have faced enormous challenges and continue to do
so. We can’t help them with everything but by providing safe, sustainable
dental care we can help them out of pain, enable them to feel more
confident and play our part in helping them to move on to a new chapter
in their life.
“I get toothache and then I
get depressed. When I get
depressed I pull my own teeth
out. I’ve done it with pliers and
a spoon. It’s agony when you do
it and it really bleeds. Then the
pain goes away.
“I was homeless for a year,
sleeping rough. I slept in
between the doorways of two
charity shops. They said it was
ok for me to sleep there if I kept
it clean. I do drink that’s my
problem. Then last year they
found me somewhere to
stay and I’ve been in a place
since then.
“I come to the Salvation Army
most days and that’s how I get
my food. But my teeth hurt a
lot and I can’t always eat it –
depends what it is. But if the
dentist looks after me I’ll feel
better about myself and better
about my life.”
Larry Dentaid patient,
Eastbourne
For support workers, finding dental care for their homeless and
vulnerable patients is often impossible. Dentaid receives requests to
visit new venues every week. Claire Halford-Dale from Turning Tides
in Worthing explains what a visit from Dentaid’s mobile dental unit
means to her clients.
“We often have people who
come to the centre in dental pain
who can’t eat or clean their teeth
because it hurts too much. It’s
the constant pain in their heads
which is so hard to deal with.
It’s depressing for them. And
then they are tempted to self
medicate to take the pain away.
“A lot of our clients are
embarrassed by their teeth. They
fear that they might be judged.
We have taken people to A&E in
“By coming here on a regular
basis it will break down some
of those barriers. We think it’s
fantastic what you do.”
the past when they’ve been in
agony. We’ve had people with
severe abscesses and one client
was in pain for at least 18 months.