YOUNGSTERS in an Asian country are to be given a brush up on their dental skills by two members of Dunbar Dental Practice.

Karen McIntyre and Carol Fish leave Scotland in February for a fortnight in Cambodia.

The duo will work alongside charity Dentaid in helping deliver dental care to people in the South East Asian country.

Karen, 33, who has worked at the dental practice for 17 years, told the Courier that dental health care in Cambodia was very different to what was expected in East Lothian.

She said: “In some places we will be propping up a chair with a broomstick and resting people’s heads on there and they don’t have any drills or suction.

“We will be doing very basic extraction and very basic fillings for the children. We have to take as much stuff like toothpaste and toothbrushes out there as we can.

“It is so frightening – children there do not have toothpaste and toothbrushes.”

Karen, along with Carol, 49, dentist and practice owner, were due to make the trip of a lifetime in June this year with a further six volunteers.

But a lack of numbers saw the visit postponed, with five other volunteers now confirmed for the trip.

Dental nurse and oral health educator Karen said: “We are starting in Guangzhou [in China] before a small flight to [Cambodia’s capital] Phnom Penh.

“We will spend the first couple of days working in a dental charity called One-2-One.

“It is preventative care for children and adults.

“We start there and we can go quite rural. We have to have a really relaxed approach and go with the flow.”

Mum-of-two Karen, of West Barns, and mum-of-four Carol, of North Berwick, were challenged with raising £2,200. Raffles in the dental practice, as well as a disco at West Barns Bowling Club secured the necessary money.

Karen said: “We are nervous and excited.

“We’re definitely excited now we are getting all the information through and nervous because of the laidback approach we have to have.

“We do not really know what to expect and are quite anxious about the things that we will come upon.

“It will be great fun, though, a great experience and nice to meet different people that have completely different lives to us and to share our stories.”