BIETIGHEIM-BISSINGEN, Germany: Dürr Dental, German provider of system solutions in the fields of dental care, compressed air, suction, imaging and hygiene, has donated €20,000 to Mercy Ships, a relief organisation that provides free surgery and medical care to some of the world’s poorest countries on ships crewed by doctors, nurses, water engineers and agriculturalists.

In many countries, being able to visit the dentist depends on the cost, and even then only if an office is nearby at all. In West Africa, for instance, there is one dentist for 100,000 patients. Mercy Ships and their crew travel to these regions to provide dental and other medical care. So far, the ships have visited 70 countries, treating up to 80 patients a day.

Dürr Dental has donated technical equipment to the organisation several times. From September to December 2010, one Mercy Ships dental treatment was donated for every compressed air system or suction unit sold. Though this campaign, €20,000 was raised. Axel Schramm, Executive Vice-President of Marketing and Sales at Dürr Dental, recently presented a cheque to Udo Kronester, Programme Director at Mercy Ships Germany. “With this donation, Dürr Dental hopes to fulfil its social responsibility as a balanced
company,” Schramm said.

“Mercy Ships can continue counting on Dürr Dental,” the company stated in a press release. “The international voluntary dental teams can depend on boundless sympathy and active support by the company.”