After Years of Neglect Oral Health Gets Preference

The government’s determination to help improve dental services has seen unprecedented measures in oral healthcare over the past two years.

Under the 2014 Health Reform Plan, “major steps have been taken in this field and a large populace now has access to oral care services,” said Hamid Samadzadeh, director of the Oral and Dental Health Department at the Health Ministry.

“In less than two years, dental equipment at 2,400 health centers has been renovated,” he noted, adding that over the past 30 years such measures were neglected.  

“Formerly, 80% of the health centers, especially in the rural areas, had no dental services and many villages were deprived of oral care services.”

Besides upgrading dental equipment, 1,400 dentists have been appointed across the country, the official said at the opening ceremony of Imam Sadeq Dental Care Complex in Rafsanjan, Kerman Province, ISNA reported.

“Around 48 such facilities with at least seven or eight dental units in each have been launched in the past year and a half,” he said.

A software program for registration of services in a dentistry system has also been developed where up-to-date medical records of patients can be accessed.  

Rural folks as well as those in deprived regions can now enjoy free and/or affordable dental services thanks to the measures taken by the government, he said.

  School Schemes in Oral Health

Fluoride varnish application programs in schools are part of the Health Ministry’s efforts to prevent widespread oral and dental problems. One round of the scheme has been implemented in schools, and two more are slated to be carried out before the end of the current academic year in June 2017.

Brushing aside criticism of the health reforms, Samadzadeh said that the nationwide plan “has challenges and weaknesses that demand cooperation from all sectors to be addressed, instead of the unfair attacks.”

The public sector’s share of dental healthcare was barely “8% before the health reforms but will hopefully reach 25% by the end of the present administration’s term in mid-2017.”

Caption: Around 48 facilities with 7-8 dental units have been launched in the country in the past 1.5 years.