"Shimaa Mahmoud puts on a face mask. Before pulling on latex gloves, she turns up the music on her computer. The gentle music blends with Quranic verses in Arabic. Then the 29-year-old dentist opens the waiting room door to welcome the next patient. Abdalla Ibrahim Mohammed, an older Sudanese man with a swollen cheek, enters and lies down in the dentist's chair."
""I have a big problem with my teeth," he said, explaining that he has been to the dentist several times since 1990 and has had a few molars extracted. "Now the filling in another one fell out as I was eating," he added, pointing to one of his back molars. But as a refugee living in exile without work, he cannot afford treatment."
"Mahmoud's dental practice is located on the ground floor of the Alsalam Clinic in Uganda's capital, Kampala: a threestory building in the Kabalagala district where many Sudanese refugees have settled. Since the war in Sudan broke out in 2023 between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), almost 100,000 Sudanese have fled to Uganda. The East African country currently hosts around 1.8 million refugees, more than any other country on the continent."
"Most Sudanese men and women who need treatment come to the Alsalam Clinic, where over a dozen doctors from Sudan practice. The dentist adjusts the dental chair. A flat-screen monitor is mounted above it all state-of-the-art equipment that is rarely seen in Ugandan clinics. Mahmoud checks the old man's teeth using an intraoral camera. "We must always keep the war in mind," she said, adding that post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental health issues can affect the teet"
Shimaa Mahmoud is a 29-year-old dentist working at Alsalam Clinic in Kampala, where she prepares for patients with music and Quranic verses playing. Abdalla Ibrahim Mohammed, an older Sudanese refugee, has dental pain and missing fillings but cannot afford treatment while living in exile without work. Alsalam Clinic is operated by Sudanese doctors and serves many Sudanese refugees settled in the Kabalagala district. Since the 2023 war between the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces, almost 100,000 Sudanese have fled to Uganda. Uganda hosts about 1.8 million refugees overall. The clinic offers state-of-the-art equipment and free care, and staff note that PTSD and other mental health issues affect dental health.
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