Importance of oral health amplified at medical outreach

Jul 26, 2018 News

Oral health can help to determine an individual’s general health and quality of life. Moreover, good oral health is a state of being free from mouth and facial pain, oral and throat cancer, oral infection and sores, periodontal [gum] disease, tooth decay, tooth loss, and other diseases.
An individual with good oral health is therefore one who is free from disorders that limit one’s capacity in biting, chewing, smiling, speaking, and psychosocial wellbeing.
The foregoing is information contained in a World Health Organisation [WHO] fact sheet on oral health.
But it was precisely this information that was amplified this past weekend at a medical outreach held at the Little Baiboo Primary School, Mahaica River.
The outreach is one hosted by the Richard Giddings Sponsor A Child Foundation in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health.
As a result of the collaboration, technicians from the Cheddi Jagan Dental Centre were on site offering dental health services.
According to WHO, some of the risk factors for oral diseases include unhealthy diet, tobacco use, harmful alcohol use and poor oral hygiene. Some of the measures to help remedy the outcome of these conditions include filling, extraction and fluoride mouth rinse.
However, paramount among the measures to help persons improve their oral health is education. This was amplified by a technician who underscored that persons must develop an appreciation for caring for their teeth even when they are unable to visit a dentist or dental technician.
Adults as well as children flocked to the outreach and were sensitised to the importance of maintaining good oral health.
They were, moreover, enlightened about the fact that, “good oral health means good general health” and that “the mouth is the doorway to the body.”
“You should do a dental check up every six months, not only when you have a dental problem…So we encourage all members of the public to visit the nearest dentist to have a check-up,” emphasised a technician who offered her service at the outreach.
“If we do not take care of our mouth, then we will not be able to have good general health,” the technician added.
Although the outreach focused on dental health, other health services were also offered including Visual Inspection with Ascetic Acid [VIA] tests, eye tests and pressure and glucose tests.
Parents were also encouraged to always bring along their children at such events since they can benefit from such care as much as the adults.
The Richard Giddings Sponsor A Child Foundation, is a board-managed not for profit organisation, that has been in existence since 2014, according to its representative, Ms. Aruna Giddings.
“We have been doing medical outreaches all over Guyana and we have been out and about trying to assist the needy and providing medical help,” said Giddings.
Giddings added, the Foundation has at least two more outreaches planned for this year.
At an outreach held by the Foundation earlier this year at Kuru Kururu on the Soesdyke/Linden Highway, high blood pressure and diabetes were among the most common health conditions detected.
The two conditions have been linked to the increasing number of persons being diagnosed with kidney failure, a condition that the health sector has been struggling to address.

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