Community awareness on dental care vital, says dental therapist

Health Watch

COMMUNITY education and awareness programmes are the way forward in addressing the increasing oral health problems in Western, according to the Tabubil Hospital dental unit.
Dental therapist Nepon Kara said the hospital, which is run by Ok Tedi Mining Ltd (OTML), received patients from all over North Fly and some travel for days to the hospital.
He highlighted this during the PNG Dental Health Association’s speciality conference last Friday.
He said clinical and preventative approaches were equally important in the oral health services provided by the hospital within the mine’s catchment area.
Kara said the dental unit had modern equipment with three main functions – clinical, outreach and oral health calendar events.
He said despite having no dental doctor, the staff were committed to provide convenient, accurate and reliable service with shortest possible turnaround times.
Kara said since 2013, the dental team had attended to more than 29,000 patients with more than 33,000 treatments made because some people came with multiple oral problems. He said according to their record, a majority of these patients were female and there were also a large number of children.
The common oral health problem, he said were dental caries (tooth decay and cavities) and periodontal (gum) diseases which could be prevented with good hygiene practices.
To promote prevention, Kara said the dental team were taking education and awareness programmes into the communities and schools.
He said they visited 15 schools with a total enrolment of more than 3,000 and community outreach to five villages, three health facilities and a church.
Kara said they hoped in the future to have digitalised equipment, research, dentist visits, a dental laboratory and more staff.