‘Healthy Teeth - Healthy Child’ campaign to launch

Health Minister T.Munkhsaikhan last week received a delegation from a private dental and maxillofacial hospital to discuss current issues, in connection with the “Healthy Teeth - Healthy Child” campaign.

The discussion was attended by more than 10 representatives, including Enereldent, Tuj-dent, Monsey, Baskhuu-implant hospital and Shud NGO.

Health Minister T.Munkhsaikhan said, “The prevalence of dental caries and oral diseases is very high not only among children but also among the general population. It is important to note that the “Healthy Teeth-Healthy Children” program provides preventive check-ups and treatment for children below 12 years of age. In order to implement this program at the national level, it is very important for us to reach out to children and population of soums and provide them with dental and maxillofacial care. Currently, only about 40 of 330 soums have dental offices, and the rest of soum residents must come to the province center or the capital for dental care. In addition, almost 98 percent of dentists work in the private sector. In this context, we need your support and joint efforts to implement the program at the soum level based on the participation of the private sector, and we have heard that many hospitals are working in this direction within the framework of their social responsibility. Therefore, we are considering your suggestions on how private dental clinics can work together to educate the soum population, especially children, on healthy behavior and to provide dental and maxillofacial care to the population within the framework of the program.”

Officials noted a shortage of medical assistants and technicians and dental care needs to be covered by health insurance.

In Mongolia, 87.3 to 96.2 percent of children aged five to six, and more than 65.3 percent of children over the age of 12 have dental caries, and in 2018, the “Healthy Teeth-Healthy Child” national program was launched. The program aims to increase the quality and accessibility of children's dental care, ensure financial stability, expand inter-sectoral cooperation, and reduce the prevalence of pediatric dental disease by 30 percent and dental caries by four points through the introduction of international best practices. It's been active for two years.

During the program, a total of 93,495 children received oral preventive and curative care.

About 128,651 children were treated for dental caries and 78,982 children for preventive and mineralizing ointments.