In late September, a team of six UK dentists travelled to Namibia for a ten-day outreach project with UK registered charity Mobile Smiles across some of the country’s most remote and underserved regions. Between 25 September and 4 October, the group covered long distances each day in intense heat, in a refurbished mobile dental clinic, to reach communities where access to dentistry is extremely limited. Schools, orphanages, village centres and even a small rural church were transformed into functional treatment spaces, allowing the team to provide care in environments that would otherwise never host a dental service.
Over the ten days, the team saw more than 1,200 patients and quickly adapted to the varied needs of each region. Oral hygiene education remained central throughout, often delivered to large groups and sometimes in local dialects, accompanied by the distribution of toothbrushes, toothpaste, hygiene charts, fluoride varnish application and structured triage for treatment urgency.
The team completed over 280 extractions and more than 140 restorations, resolving years of chronic discomfort for many individuals. One of the most memorable cases involved a 60-year-old woman who had fractured her front teeth at the age of ten and had never been able to access treatment. Rebuilding her smile after half a century became one of the defining moments of the outreach, reflecting the profound human impact of even simple restorative work.
The project’s influence and connection extended well beyond dentistry through distribution of sporting equipment, colouring books and face-painting to places visited. The visit attracted interest from Namibia’s national news, who reported on the international collaboration and its impact.
With Namibia only recently able to train dentists domestically, the team was also invited to deliver lectures to final-year dental students and recent graduates at the country’s new dental school. These sessions provided an opportunity for skills exchange and highlighted the importance of strengthening local capacity alongside providing direct clinical care.
Throughout the trip, communities welcomed the team with warmth, openness and genuine gratitude. During downtime, the group had the chance to see some of Namibia’s remarkable landscapes and wildlife close up.
This was Mobile Smiles’ third Namibian outreach, continuing the charity’s mission to deliver essential dental care to underserved regions while supporting the development of international collaboration. The project demonstrated the power of collective, community-centred healthcare and the difference that well-equipped mobile dentistry can make.