Maria David
THE Oshana Region has embark on its oral health awareness campaign with dentists going out to spread the word about the importance of good dental hygiene.
Oshakati-based dental technologist Selma Mbundu said the campaign started Monday and concludes Friday.
The purpose is to educate the community on the importance of oral health and do scanning for the people.
“We will explain to them what is happening to their mouth, give them advice on how to maintain a good oral hygiene and tell them of the available treatment,” she said.
She explained that oral health is important because the mouth is linked to the rest of the body. There are diseases that start within the mouth and can affect the body.
Mbundu emphasised that with the campaign they want to educate patients on how best to recognise if there are challenges in the mouth and how best to take care of their mouths.
According to her, most of the people only come to a dentist when it is already late and that is what they want to avoid through this campaign.
“It is always good to visit a dentist at least twice a year to help eliminate mouth diseases,” she said.
The last time the oral health week was celebrated in Oshana region was in 2014.
Mbundu revealed that close to 2 000 patients were attended to since the start of the campaign.
Many of them were students from local public and private schools.
Meanwhile, doctor Elizabeth Hausiku-Elago said that for a long time dental clinics have been experiencing challenges such as partially working dental chairs and limited working space to accommodate the growing number of interns and HR.
