Army dentist Capt Jim Scott removed 116 teeth within the first two days of clinic on Exercise Sharp Point, while dental hygienist Sgt Samantha Davidson had given out nearly 700 toothbrushes on her first school visit in Kenya - the first toothbrush many of the children have ever owned. Yet with two and half weeks of clinics still to go there is still much to do for the two dental teams in Kenya.                           

"Next year hopefully there will be three dentists on the exercise as ultimately this is the worst area of care. There are no dentists here," said Jim, before the start of the third clinic day, which had moved to Mailwa in Kajiado. "Yesterday in Meto I took out 88 teeth, and the day before 28 teeth - it entirely depends on the fluoride content of the water. Most teeth we have been looking at have tooth decay so if there is imminent pain we suggest taking it out because the patients are unlikely to see dental care soon. That is why the translators are so important - to ask the patients what they want me to do. If we could be in each place for a week I could do fillings, but we can't do that in a day with the number of patients."

The dental team with 2 Troop, 1 Medical Regiment, consisting of one dentist, a dental hygienist, and a dental support specialist, are seeing on average 35 patients a day.

"Yesterday really stood out - just the sheer number of patients who came for treatment," said dental support specialist Pte Ben Phoenix-Langston. "My old boss had been on a previous Sharp Point and advised me to come as a good life experience. It shows you something when people have to clean their teeth with a twig rather than a toothbrush. Ultimately I'm just doing my job, but there is a huge sense of satisfaction and achievement in providing dental care over here where it is really needed."

For dental hygienist, Samantha, the exercise is also about learning the reasons behind the tooth decay and going to schools to try and educate children a little more about dental care. "Oral B donated 500 toothbrushes to us for this exercise, and I have been going to schools to demonstrate how to use them and why our teeth are so important - what we use them for, not least of all smiling.

"I have been amazed at how resilient people are here, their ability to smile, especially children who have had to have four teeth taken out at times. People have come back to thank us, once the numbness had worn off, for taking out teeth that had been hurting them for years. You would never be thanked for taking out people's teeth in the UK."

Dentist Jim agrees: "People moan if they can't get an appointment in a week in the UK. Imagine not seeing one in your lifetime. We are very privileged.

"In cases we are providing the first and last dentist care some of our patients will see. A lot of the patients treated have never been to a dentist before and have been in pain for a long time, and it's a pleasure to help them. The exercise fits well with the Army ethos, and I was ecstatic when I was selected to come here to Kenya."