ONLY 280 QUALIFIED DENTISTS CATERING FOR GHANA'S 25 M CITIZENS END NOW
A school girl demonstrating how to brush the teeth at the World Oral Health Day |
There
are currently only 280 registered dental health practitioners in Ghana.
Out of
this number, 75 percent of these health experts are located in Accra, Tema and
Kumasi alone with the Upper East and Upper West regions having only two each to
cater for the dental health needs of the high number of people.
The Dean of the
School of Dental Health of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and
Technology, Dr. Francis Adu-Ababio made this known at a durbar of basic school
pupils and teachers from selected public schools and the SOS Children’s Village
at Asokore Mampong in the Ashanti region.
The durbar was to commemorate this
year’s edition of the World Oral Health Day which was on the theme: “Smile for
Life”.
The event was organized by the SOS Children’s Villages, Ghana to create
further public awareness on the causes, effects and prevention of oral health
problems.
The Dean of the KNUST’s Dental Health School noted that even though
oral health problem is not a global phenomenon, its incidence is in higher
prevalence in low income countries with Ghana being no exception.
Dr.
Adu-Ababio mentioned tooth decay as the commonest oral health problems with tooth
extraction also being the most sought remedy. He pledged the readiness of the
KNUST’s Dental Health School’s to support the SOS Children’s Villages in the
implementation of its oral health awareness creation project.
The National
Director of the SOS Children’s Villages, Ghana, Alexander Mar Kekula said the
organization has started a project in Ghana to educate school children aged
between three and 12 years in selected deprived communities on good oral
practices to prevent dental diseases.
The Chief of Asokore Mampong, Nana Boakye
Ansah Debrah attributed the breakdown of some marriages in
Ghana to poor oral health, which he explained, accounts for bad interpersonal
communication among some married couples.
He therefore commended the SOS
Children’s Villages, Ghana, for the initiative to educate members of the public
to take oral health serious.
As part of activities commemorating the World Oral
Health Day, the participating school children staged dramas to drum home the
causes, effects and prevention of oral health problems.
The health experts also
used the occasion to educate the people on the best way to brush the teeth
while all the school children were each given a tooth brush and tooth paste.
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