A group of fourth-year dental students from University College Cork headed to Nepal for their Dental Outreach project recently to provide much-needed care to the local population.

In April 20ı5 a 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit the country’s capital Kathmandu and its surrounding areas, killing more than 8,500 people and making many more homeless. Hundreds of public healthcare facilities were damaged in a country whose infrastructure was already limited. It is estimated that Nepal has only ı,400 dentists serving a population of 28 million.

The students said: “With the help of Kantipur Dental and General Hospital, we were able to travel to remote areas to provide oral hygiene instruction and provide treatment for hundreds of children and adults. For us, it was an insightful view into how dentistry works in this part of the world. We will never forget how the people of Nepal made us feel so welcome in their country.”