Dr Hidayathulla Shaikh

Introduction Dental Public Health - Defined as – “The science and art of preventing and controlling dental disease and promoting dental health through organized community efforts”. In public health dentistry the individual patient is not the sole object of the study, the entire community is in focus. This includes not only the sufferers from the disease, but also those persons who are left disabled during the course of disease.

Dental Public Health Programs 1) School Dental Health Programs Steps Acc to Dunning – School community organization case finding – surveying of dental needs & service Health education Specific preventive measures – topical F Referral of defects & follow through Periodic evaluation of the program

Types of dental examination Type 1 :Complete dental examination with all aids Type 2 :Limited examination Type 3 : inspection : mouth mirror + explorer + adequate illumination Type 4 : screening – tongue depressor+ adequate illumination

School based preventive program School based F program – School water F F mouth rinsing program F tablet administration program F mouth rinse + F tablet Tooth brushing program P & F sealant program P & F sealants + F mouth rinsing

Community Oral Health Outreach Programs

Community Health Education Programs

Planning of Dental Health Services According to WHO there are six main stages of planning of dental health services they are – 1) Situation analysis 2) Problem identification and formulation of objectives 3) Formulation and analysis of alternative strategies 4) Identification of special efforts 5) Strategy selection 6) Program formulation.

Information needed for planning 1) Socio demographic data like age, ethnicity, social class. 2)Disease levels like severity of disease, disease distribution, epidemiological data etc. 3)Existing services provision - availability of services, treatment facilities available, cost of care, access to services. 4)Public concerns like population priorities, views and demands on health services.