By Kitts D: Mabonga
East African Gazette
KAMPALA
Parents have been challenged to ensure that their children have nutritious foods and drinks to avoid them from being trapped into an oral health burden.
The words of caution have been made by the Dental Association president, Biren Yajnik while addressing delegates at their annual 2023 scientific conference at Golden Tulip
Hotel Kampala which brought together dentist consultant surgeons, dentistry students and dental products manufacturers from East African community member states and beyond.
Under the theme ‘Advancing Oral Health, Innovations and Best Practices’, Biren noted that it was incumbent upon all parents to ensure that as children are given good nutritional foods and drinks that help them to build a strong hygienic and healthy tooth as opposed to expose them to stuff which can endanger their tooth systems.
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Dr.Saurabh D.Thawrani the chief consultant and managing director of King’s dental surgery and Facial Aesthetics Centre was very sad that more parents due to modern lifestyles are innocently buying expensive gadgets including smart phones for their children but neglect their immediate oral health challenges which are slowly eating through their households .
‘For the last eight years I have been working in Uganda, have witnessed a key weakness among some parents who have clandestinely failed to advise their children about the values embedded in consuming nutritious foods which help protect their teeth from decay and leads to severe pain on removal and high costs in treatment’ lamented Saurabh’.
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He pointed out that instead some of the parents have resorted to buying expensive smartphones as opposed to protecting their kid’s oral health systems however he urged them to ensure that they take their children for dental check-up once a year and this will promote good Oral hygiene at household level.
The delegates in their general resolved that it was high time for the government to support the association in their effort of building capacity in hard reached communities where oral health challenge is alarming.
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The Uganda Dental Association is committed to carry out outreach in which they will teach communities about proper oral hygiene since teaching young people gives us a lifelong habit that can be vital for the overall health and wellbeing of these communities.
“It’s more than cleaning and fillings, that dental professionals are on a mission to bridge gaps of healthcare right from schools to communities and we are dedicated to fostering oral health awareness and preventive care to homesteads” noted Biren.
Dr Ayub Twaha, the representative of the association in the Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioner’s Council lamented that many quack people are using their name to rob the public in the guise of offering them professional services saying efforts must be explored to kick them out.
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The council registrar, Kasule Ivan said the council was concerned about the escalating cases of quack dental doctors who rob innocent dental patients of their money saying that all dental health operators must register and display their certificates at their counter for all to see.
He revealed that the government is in the process of merging the four medical professional bodies under one umbrella in the ongoing merger government program for ministries, departments and agencies.
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“We are waiting for the decision by the government to merge the four medical professional bodies and we call for calm as the process gets underway, ” noted Kasule.
Dental statistics
Dental disease is one of the main causes of death in Uganda. According to statistics, 80% of children in Uganda have tooth decay. The reason is the lack of knowledge about check-ups and treatment options.
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Rural areas like Kaberamaido District are particularly badly affected. People there frequently consult only village healers when they have dental problems.
The councils include Uganda Nurses and Midwives Council [UNMC], Allied Health Professionals Council [AHPC], Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioner’s Council [UMDPC] and pharmacy council respectively.
He also clarified that the government has officially accredited four Universities to conduct dental courses which include Makerere, KIU, UCU and Equator University located in Masaka respectively saying anyone else doing it shall be punished.
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