THREE women from The High Street Dental Practice in Chippenham were left smiling with joy after taking part in the trip of a lifetime to Uganda to help administer pain relief and dental care.

Hygienist Claire Hart-Ramsey, 50, and dental nurses Alex Kettlety, 22, and Trudi Maidment, 43, spent two weeks in the African country along with other volunteers offering aid as part of charity, Dentaid.

The trio travelled hundreds of miles to administer care in schools, churches and orphanages and helped more than 1,000 people during their trip.

“It was an eye-opener to know how lucky we are to have a dentist every six months,” said Mrs Maidment. “On the third day we went to community hall and there were 400 people queuing when we arrived just to see us.”

“They had walked for miles and there was a massive thunderstorm but there was no complaints, they just kept queuing.

“For me that was the most memorable moment.”

All three needed to raise £2,000 for the trip, which was used to fund their travel and also to help fund the Ugandan dentists who travelled with them into the communities.

“In the UK we try and preserve teeth but out there that just goes out of the window, for adults and children, because there’s lots of decay so it was very much pain relief by removing the teeth,” said Mrs Hart-Ramsey.

“Clean water for them out there is more expensive than Coca-Cola.”