School Dental Prevention Programs

Children are safe with the School Dental Prevention Program

The School Dental Prevention Program at MNG-Health Affairs is one of the most important leading programs for health education and aware-ness of children, since it reduced the rate of dental caries among school-ers of MNG residential cities by virtue of its dentists’ visits to the school-ers at the school. The Program aims to educate children by counseling them about the appropriate amount of diets and explaining the ways of brushing teeth, in implementation of the proverb that says “prevention is better than cure,” in addition to the application of fluoride and dental crack-adhesive, as well as the early treatment for the victims of dental caries.

Program Objectives:

The School Dental Prevention Program aims to:

• Reach a high level of oral health.

• Reduce the causes of dental caries, and thus reduce financial costs for dental treatments and dental diseases treatment.

• Apply proper healthy nutrition program, through awareness and guidance on the harmful effects of sugars, quality of food provided to children at schools, and reduction of sug-ar-sweetened drinks.

• Apply preventive measures such as: application of fluoride and dental crack-adhesive, and explanation of teeth cleaning methods.

• Diagnose and treat dental caries early; and maintain fol-low-up to achieve continuity in the application of prevention and awareness programs for oral hygiene.

Mobile Clinics for School Dental Prevention Program:

The Program has provided and equipped four vehicles, and each vehicle has two dental clinics, equipped with the latest equipment and operated by dentists with assistants and oral health specialists. Add to them other clinics at the School Dental Health Center, which contain five dental clinics in Badr Area at King Abdulaziz Residential City, to which some cases have been referred to complete the necessary dental treatments under the supervision of pediatric dentistry consultants.

Program Achievements:

• A thorough dental screening of primary schoolers was implemented at the schools of the residential cities of the Ministry of National Guard in 2008, and then the necessary dental treatments were performed for students in the mobile clinics, such as permanent fillings, preventive fillings, application of fluoride, and other services.

• The program is continuing provision of the curative and preventive dental services, as well as the awareness and education programs for schoolers.

• Visits were implemented for 14 boys’ schools and 14 girls’ schools during the period from 2008 to 2016, where:

1. Preventive fillings and fluoride were applied for more than 2000 schoolers.

2. More than 30000 schoolers (boys and girls) received dental treatment in School Dental Health Center.