Dental Public
Health/Public Health Dentistry/Community Dentistry is a specialized discipline
in Dentistry defined as the science and art of promoting oral health, preventing
and controlling oral diseases aimed at enhancing quality of life of people by
concerted, organized effort.
The gadget spec URL could not be found Dental Public Health care provision predominantly
targets populations/population groups to cater to their oral health needs
compared to individual persons who obtain dental care services on demand. As
almost all oral diseases such as dental caries, periodontal disease and ora l
cancer which are considered as public health problems in Sri Lanka are
preventable and controllable by evidence-based cost effective strategies.
Dental
Public Health becomes an important discipline helpful to improve oral health
status of Sri Lankans as well as to reduce the colossal dental care cost of the
health budget. There are Dental Public Health Services provided both at National and
Regional Level closely integrated to existing Public Health Infrastructure in Sri Lanka.
National Level
- Oral Health Unit of Family Health Bureau: plan,
implement, monitor and coordinates the National Program of Oral Health Care to
pregnant mothers and School Dental Services.
- Oral Health Unit of Health Education Bureau: plan,
implement and coordinate oral health communication strategies, production of
oral health education material.
- Oral Health Unit of National Cancer Control
Programme: Plan, implement, monitor and evaluate the national oral cancer
control programme
- Dental Therapist Training School Maharagama:
Training Institution for School Dental Therapists
- Research & surveillance Division- Institute of
Oral Health Maharagama
- Training Division- IOH, Maharagama: Conducting
in-service training programmes for all categories of oral health care providers
Clinical
Dental Public Health Units
Dental Public Health Units
at Dental Institute, Colombo and Institute of Oral Health Maharagama are the two specialized
units affiliated to tertiary dental care hospitals.
Services
available:
- Preventive Dental Clinic for children at high
risk for dental caries:
The gadget spec URL could not be found - Behavioural management
- Dietary Counseling
- Oral Hygiene improvement
- Professional Fluoride
Application
- Fissure Sealant
- Simple fillings
- Preventive Dental Clinic for pregnant mothers
(at IOH Maharagama)
- Conducting community based oral health
programmes for special target groups such as preschool children, school
children, antenatal mothers, older adults, occupational groups and
screening for oral diseases
- Conducting Epidemiological and operational
research
Regional Level:
- School Dental Clinics:
School Dental Therapists providing basic oral health care and oral health
promotion for children aged 3-13 years
- Adolescent Dental Clinics:
Dental Surgeons providing oral health care and oral health promotion for all
age groups
- Community Dental Clinics: Dental
Surgeons providing oral health care and oral health promotion for all age groups
- MOH offices with Dental
Surgeons: oral health promotion and screening for oral diseases among special
target groups such as pregnant mothers, oral cancer prevention activities etc.
Contributions 1. Preventive Oral Health Unit - Institute of Oral Health, Maharagama 2. Community Dental Unit, Dental Institute, Colombo, Sri Lanka
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