CALAMBA CITY, Laguna – The Department of Health (DOH) 4-A (Calabarzon) has embarked on training programs aimed at enhancing the capabilities of government dental professionals and practitioners.
“We must give our people the right oral care products and the highest standard of treatment for them to really feel that public health service is the best health care service in the country,” DOH 4-A director, Dr. Eduardo C. Janairo, said on Tuesday regarding the holding of the “Refresher Course for Public Health Dentists” at the Mandaluyong City conference hall on June 10-11.
According to regional oral health program manager Dr. Edwina J. Go, the two-day course aims to "promote oral health in the community, and provide intervention, including the proper oral application of fluoride varnish, pits and fissure sealants and glass ionomer cement."
Go added that the course also covers tooth extraction for the reduction of tooth decay, especially among children, and prophylaxis and restorative treatment for pregnant mothers, high school students, and senior citizens.
As part of the orientation session, the public sector dentists were briefed on the Universal Health Care (UHC) Law's impact on dental professionals, health promotion and preventive interventions, as well as the planning of effective oral health programs.
“Tooth decay or dental caries can be prevented and as parents, we must promote oral health care to our children while they are young. We must instill the importance of brushing and flossing daily after every meal,” she said.
Go noted that Quezon province’s 52 public dentists comprised the third batch under the refresher course and two more batches are slated to complete the capability enhancement training for all public health dentists in Calabarzon.
Calabarzon, which consists of the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon, has a total of 262 public health dentists, of which 61 are provincial health dentists, 79 municipal dentists, 70 city dentists, and 46 hospital dentists.
Besides the actual demonstration of proper procedures and application of sealant for dentures, the seminar also included hands-on restorative treatment.
Participants were also taught the proper filling out of oral health forms, patient’s oral information and health status, services and medical history report.
To curb the increasing number of oral health diseases in the region, the DOH provided surgical instruments, such as forceps; and hand instruments, such as 100 sets of luxators, 50 units of portable dental equipment, 500 dentist’s health kits, 5,000 kiddie dental hygiene kits, 5,000 adult dental kits, 100 sets of ultrasonic portable scaler, and 500 gallons of sterilization and disinfection solution to the region’s various local government units. (PNA)
