Gautam Sharma, who runs West Earlham Dental Practice, is a trustee of the Dental Mavericks Charity, and formed part of an international contingent of 50 dentists, healthcare assistants, translators and cultural advisors who spent five days in Lebanon.

Credit: Dr Gautam Sharma, second from left, Principal dentist of the West Earlham Dental Practice, Norfolk with his team, on left, Sebastian Lundby, field coordinator, and then left to right, Omar Merie, translator, Graham Temple, dentist, Basima M Amin, local translator and clinic manager, Rachael Tsang, dental therapist, Hasan Merhi, translator.

Thanks to the generosity of people in East Anglia, he was able to take with him a haul of gifts and supplies. He said: ‘This was my second trip to the region, so I had some idea of what to expect this time, but even so, I don’t think I was quite prepared for the relentless pace of the number of patients coming through to be seen.

‘We started early each morning and finished late into the evening, every day treating close to 300 Syrian and Lebanese children. I was heartened to see that we were making less extractions than on our previous visit, but still the need is high, and we were welcomed with open arms and treated with huge gratitude by every single patient,’ he added.

Credit: Dr Gautam Sharma with a young patient and his mother.