I have just returned from my 2nd trip to Marrakech working in the voluntary dental clinic established by The Palmtree foundation. It is sited at the science faculty of the state University. It is really well kitted out, even having aircon. Last year I was accompanied by my wife and this year by Tony a paramedic turned nurse. Our work was very rewarding.

Like last year there was a list at 9am with 75 names already and a queue to put those names to faces (teeth!). The steriliser went on for the first of many times and the welcome book was rechristened. Last year , to a drum role and the whirring of the video my wife Marie-Claire took out her first Moroccan tooth. We have a visiting Iranian dentist at home and having done VT M-C was luckily able to take all the voyeurs in her stride.

We triaged about 25 the first day including a lad who had never taken his sectional acrylic denture out. (the perio was remarkably better when we saw him again 4 days later) A few needed 3 appointments but each day we triaged /treated more. We averaged 20 appts a day with multiple fillings the norm interspersed with plenty of challenging extractions. Unfortunately we only managed to get down to number 38 on the initial list!

The pathology we saw it fell into 2 types. Caries (and wasn’t it gross with such a high sugar diet) with extensive decay with pulpal exposures inevitably but amazingly little acute pulpitis and NOT one swollen face. Extractions were routine but we rarely gave antibiotics as the mouths /teeth looked clean and all clients were young and healthy. Perio was rampant but it at least facilitated the root extractions!

There were inevitably some hiccups but despite the variability of the local electrical supply and kit maintenance our trips have gone smoothly. The local students are extremely grateful to have access to free dental care (and don’t they need it) and wait patiently in the queue sometimes over a 2 day period. They had the habit of starting new lists each afternoon hoping that somehow it would supersede the original one. Ethically we were challenged by the Uni staff who I think thought they could jump the queue.

We were also treated to a day’s outing with a family and a tour of the village in the foothills of the Atlas mountains.The coordinating regional charity CDRT had installed a reservoir and a generator pump to fill it to give them running water. All of the CDRT and Palm tree staff were very friendly as was the reporter from Radio Maroc. We had a piece LIVE on the national radio for over an hour…..even my dulcet English tones were broadcast to 33 million! Did anyone other than GCHQ hear us?

This was our first foray into charitable dentistry and we enjoyed it immensely. We were sometimes not sure if it was a marathon or a sprint…we were only there for 4 days but the queue will always be there. Should we have prioritised prevention or extractable teeth or comprehensive fillings? Should we have seen more patients but done less for any 1 individual? Should we be involved in training locals? I felt gutted to see people who had queued all day go untreated.

Marie-Claire, Tony and I would thoroughly recommend volunteers to visit Marrakech and staff this clinic whether for an afternoon or 3 -4 days as we did. Ultimately the local charity CDRT may make it peripatetic and provide a service for the rural areas where a denture technician would be a necessary addition to the team. I would add that volunteers should really be experienced both clinically and in maintaining the kit. A smattering of French or Arabic would also be desirable. We have left “frequently asked question” translation sheets there.

It was a pleasure to go and help out and we are very grateful to Hans and the Palm tree Foundation in the UK and the staff within CDRT in Marrakech who helped us along. We wish the project every success.

Rupert and Marie-Claire.
Do we get CPD!!!!!