HANNOVER, Germany: A dental van equipped with a complete surgery is now on the move in Hannover. Henry Schein Dental, global supplier of dental equipment, has donated material amounting to €10,000 towards the project, which aims to provide dental care for the homeless, undocumented adults, and children and teenagers from deprived areas.

The dental van is a service of the city’s help for the homeless run by the charitable organisation Diakonisches Werk. Currently, twenty-one voluntary dentists form part of the mobile dental service. In the upcoming weeks and months, they will visit various facilities and places in the city to treat people in need. Additionally, social workers will inform patients about social counselling and support opportunities that can help them gain access to the health system.

The project was initiated by Dr Ingeburg Mannherz, a retired dentist, and her husband Werner Mannherz, an engineer and ergonomist. Carsten Brüning, head of distribution at Henry Schein Germany, who has known Mannherz for many years, supported the project from the outset. He encouraged dental manufacturers to support the project and promised Henry Schein’s immediate and future support. The company made material donations to the value of €10,000 directly to the dental mobile service.

“We are pleased to be able to support such a great project in the long term. This is not only about providing help to people experiencing difficulties in gaining access to the health-care system, but also about giving them a little dignity back,” said Brüning. “Helping homeless people to break down barriers is an important and meaningful task.”

According to an article published by the Evangelical Press Service (Evangelischer Pressedienst), the costs for the dental van amounted to approximately €80,000. A total of €65,000 was contributed by the aid organisation Hilfswerk Deutscher Zahnärzte. The annual operating costs of the mobile surgery are estimated at around €45,000.

Henry Schein announced that it would continue to support projects in Germany and around the world to give disadvantaged people better access to medical care.