The
School Dental Service
The
School Dental Service is one of the 2 major units of the Seychelles Dental
Services.
The
aim of the adult dental service is to :
“Promote oral health and prevent the spread
of oral diseases in the population of Seychelles, particularly in
the child population.”
Services are provided by Dental
Therapist/Hygienists in the district clinics, either in health centres or
in schools. Like the dentists the Dental Therapist/Hygienists are also
assisted by trained Dental Surgery Assistants.
On
going programmes in the School Dental Service
Maternal
and Child Health Care Programme
(MCH):
The role of the SDS in looking after the oral health of children starts
even before children start going to school, to be precise as soon as they
are born. The aim of the MCH oral health programme is to prevent women
from developing oral health problems during their pregnancy. A formal
referral system has been established whereby pregnant women or those
planning a pregnancy are referred to the dental service. At the dental
clinic the dentists examine the women and give them appropriate treatment,
education and information. The women are followed up whereby they get
another appointment to attend the dental clinic with their new born child,
other children and partner. At this level a lot of oral health information
is given on oral hygiene, dietary habits, dental attendance etc.. and the
right skill is also developed in order to instil in the parents/guardians
and babies the proper oral health behavioural patterns.
School
Programmes At Day-care and at crèche levels
The SDS has no specific national programme. Individual Dental Therapists
at district level develop their own programme according to their patient
load. Usually, they organise
familiarization visits to the dental surgery, participate in activities at
Day-care and crèche levels, give oral health talks to day care attendants
and provide necessary dental treatment to the children.
For
the primary and secondary school-aged children
The SDS has a set of oral health targets in line with the WHO oral health
targets. By drawing from the
WHO health promotion strategies as best as it can, the School Dental
Service uses complementary measures to improve the oral health of the
school children, hence to reach its targets. These oral health promotion
activities include : oral health education sessions on
individual basis at clinic level and as a group at classroom level,
clinical treatment until child’s oral health status is restored and
weekly fluoride mouthrinsing at school level.
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