“REACHING THE UNREACHED”
Public Health Dentistry is one of the nine specialties in Dentistry. It deals with preventing and controlling oral diseases, promoting oral health at community level.
The department has well equipped infrastructure for comprehensive learning both in terms of academic as well as clinical concern. The students are trained to provide comprehensive oral health care with special emphasis on preventive modalities.
The department conducts outreach activities which includes camps, school dental health programs, field visits, survey. The days of global importance are celebrated through various programs. We also have a well-equipped mobile dental unit to cater to the needs of underprivileged and vulnerable population. The department also runs the satellite centres to provide oral health care to the rural population residing in the vicinity of satellite centres and also refers patients to the dental college for advanced treatments.
Objectives and Functions:
- Health promotion for the entire population.
- Oral health education
- Conducting periodic oral epidemiological surveys
- To detect, eradicate & control those factors operating in the community which are oral health, as well as general health & well-being.
- To assess the needs for oral care of the community.
- To determine the priorities & statement of objectives.
- To determine the availability of resources for programme implementation.
- The improvement of community oral health by
- Implementing effective preventive & therapeutic measures.
- Deploying the available resources to meet the needs on the basis of priority.
- The measurement of the effectiveness of present service & the planning to new services.
- The co- ordination & integration of the oral & health services.
To fulfil the above mentioned objectives, the Department of Public Health Dentistry arranges oral care programmes with the use of mobile oral clinic which is fully equipped to provide basic oral services with 2 oral chairs, oral x- ray unit, autoclave, public addressing system, audio- video aids & light care unit.
The oral care programs are:
- School oral health programmes
- Community oral health programme
- Topical application of fluorides
- Fluoride month rinsing
- Early caries detection programme
- Monitoring & education programme.
The department of public health dentistry also provides oral services to persons who do not have any access to general practitioners & hospitals like physically & mentally handicapped people & medically compromised patients. It established and maintains rural & urban rehabilitation centres to bring awareness about the availability of oral services. Finally the Department of Public Health Dentistry co- ordinates & participate in the teaching of oral public health & preventives, practices to students , teachers, health, visitors, health educators, dieticians , nurses & doctors.
