An oral health fair; which is a part of the Ministry of Health’s calendar of events for oral health month, began at the North Ruimveldt Multilateral School yesterday morning.
The fair is hosted by the Cheddi Jagan Dental School and will provide oral health care for students and residents; it ends tomorrow. Dentists and other health care workers from the Ministry of Health and the Cheddi Jagan Dental School have already tended to hundreds of students.
Dr Colin Lee, Senior Dentist Surgeon attached to the dental school, told Stabroek News yesterday that more than twenty health workers were present at the school and they were offering the students a range of oral health services free of charge.
“We have been doing this since 2002,” he explained. “Every year we [Cheddi Jagan Dental School] would choose one region to focus on for oral health month.”
According to Lee, Region Four was chosen because it is the most populated and they would be able to reach more people during their “oral health drives”. Extractions, fillings and cleaning of teeth were some of the services offered at the fair.
At the North Ruimveldt Multilateral School yesterday, the health workers were operating in two batches. One was stationed in a ground-floor classroom, while the other group operated from within a bus which is a fully equipped health care mobile unit.
One parent who was present in the compound at the time told this newspaper that she appreciated the services being brought to the children. “I am a single parent and services like this assist me greatly…I don’t have to spend additional money on dental care for my child because I know a service of good quality is provided here,” the mother stated.
The oral health fair is the second outreach being done by the dental school this month.
Oral health month 2008 in Guyana was launched on November 1 at Bartica, Region Seven. The ministries of Health and Education along with Colgate/Palmolive Company staged a sizeable health march to commemorate the occasion.
This year it is being observed under the theme “It is all about a healthy mouth”.
