‘I pull out teeth, as elephants and lions stroll on by’: The dentist offering free global care

Mitesh Badiani has helped over 100,000
patients (Picture: Supplied)

Not all heroes wear capes… our Unsung Heroes series celebrates ordinary people doing extraordinary work.

Today it’s Mitesh Badiani, 58, of Devon, whose SmileStar charity offers free dental care across the globe.


What do you do?

I founded SmileStar in 2010 to provide care to communities in need. We’ve helped more than 100,000
patients since.

What care do you offer?

We get people, who might’ve never seen a dentist, out of pain. We mainly do tooth extractions. Some patients walk all night, past lions and hyenas, to get to o...