The Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC)'s Preventive Health Directorate, in partnership with Al Noor Center for the Blind, aims to promote oral and dental health through the Asnani Programme. Dr Najat al-Yafei, manager of Preventive and Promotive Oral and Dental Health, led the initiative, which was supervised by Dr Hamad al-Mudahka, executive director.
The event was conducted at Al Noor Center for the Blind with the attendance of Mashaal Alnuaimi, Alnoor Institute director, Ali Alshahwani, Muneera Ali Abdullah, Salah Alsendi, Ibrahim Alsharshani, Hussain Alhadad, Maysoon Turkoman, Amani Albosaidi and Hanadi Shalabi. Activities included oral health education lecture by Dr Sohair Dalol and teaching visually impaired students proper brushing technique by demonstration on large dental model to develop their skills in maintaining oral hygiene. This was followed by dental screening with the focus on identification of oral diseases in their early stages and referral advise for parents to seek dental treatment for oral diseases.
The Mobile Dental Unit screened 32 students aged three to 13 years. Twelve students (30%) were confirmed to be teeth decay-free. The remaining kids had three or more decaying teeth on average. In addition, 20 students underwent fluoride varnish treatment as a preventive measure. The majority of the students required some type of dental care, such as professional teeth cleaning, filling of decaying teeth, or removal of some overly retained milk teeth. Parents were given information papers recommending them to get dental treatment for their children.
The PHCC, in collaboration with Al Noor Center for the Blind, had made significant progress in developing Braille Oral Health Educational Material on a variety of topics such as brushing technique, fluoride varnish, oral hygiene tools, and the importance of saliva, which is extremely useful in educating and empowering visually impaired students to maintain good oral hygiene.
Officials of PHCC and Al Noor Institute with the students
