Dorset Dentist Providing Dental Care On The Front Line

Thu, 14 Jan 2010

A dentist from Dorset is putting his life on the line to provide dental care to both soldiers and civilians in Afghanistan.

Lt-Col Ian Mercer is currently serving in the war-torn country as part of the Royal Army Dental Corps .

He said: "It’s our task to maintain the Army’s fighting force by alleviating any dental problems that arise during the tour, massively reducing the need to evacuate affected soldiers, sailors and airmen."

Lt-Col Mercer provides dental treatment to British soldiers from a well resourced dental centre within the Camp Bastion Hospital . The dentist also travels into the hostile and more open Helmand province to cater to local Afghan patients.

He added: "Helping Afghan villagers who don’t have access to a dental service locally was massively professionally and personally rewarding."

"But it did show me the enormous amount of work we have left to do to help the Afghan Government and people to improve their security in order to allow them to improve their own infrastructure and services."

Lt-Col Mercer has served in a number of countries around the world and is also a veteran of previous operational tours to Bosnia, Northern Ireland and Iraq.

"As a military dentist this type of operational tour is the culmination of training and experience gathered over many years of routine clinical work and field exercises," he said.

"I’ve carried out sport and adventurous training all over the world. From paragliding and mountaineering in Bavaria to Hobie Cat sailing in Brunei and rugby in the UK, Germany, Malaysia, Bali, Philippines and Brunei ."
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