Dr Raffaella Gabassi is raising funds to build a Dental School in Sierra Leone
‘People were dying simply because they had an infected tooth. I couldn’t accept that, so I decided to do something about it.’ In 2012 Dr Raffaella Gabassi, owner of the White Dental and Cosmetic Rooms, founded her charity, the Smiling World Foundation, with the aim of protecting the dental health of children and their families in Sierra Leone.
‘I chose Sierra Leone because there were only two dentists to treat seven million people,’ she explains. ‘I go out at least once a year and travel with my team to the most remote, impoverished areas. Often, we carry out 500-600 extractions in a day.’
Raffaella’s current objective is to set up a Dental School. ‘We’ve made great progress. I’ve found premises and I’ve got a curriculum; now I need to raise £100,000 for the equipment.’
On her last trip in July, she was followed by a TV crew and the documentary will be aired soon. ‘That will be so useful for the charity; people will finally be able to see and understand the work that we are doing out there!’
To make a donation to the charity,
visit http://www.smilingworld.org