500 workers screened in dental health drive
PHASE ONE WILL COVER 2,000 PEOPLE BY THE END OF THIS YEAR
More than 500 workers have been screened for oral hygiene and dental health within a month of the launch of Phase I of the Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum initiative launched on May 19.
Aisha Al Kindi, public relations and communications consultant at the Hamdan Bin Mohammad College of Dental Medicine, told Gulf News that screening was being done at the Dubai Dental Clinic at the college at the rate of 100 workers per week. “Workers have responded to the initiative enthusiastically as posters were put up at labour accommodations and they turned up in large numbers,” she said.
Phase one will cover oral hygiene, screening and dental treatment of 2,000 workers by the end of this year. The initiative aims to cover a total of 600,000 workers, she added.
The initiative, which will run in two phases, has been organised by the Hamdan Bin Mohammad College of Dental Medicine, under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, in tandem with the Permanent Committee of Labour Affairs (PCLA).
Free screenings and subsequent treatments will be offered by the staff of the Dubai Dental Clinic at the college where all residents enrolled in the college are involved in the programme.
Yousuf Al Mulla, of the PCLA, told Gulf News that during Ramadan the pace had slackened a bit as the labourers were being screened twice a week and the timing of the screening was between 1pm and 4.30pm. “Right now we are able to cover about 100 workers per week in the two screening sessions but this pace will pick up after Ramadan.”
Explaining the criteria of selection of workers for the dental screening, Khawla Humaid Bel Houl, Director of Clinical Operation, said: “The PCLA will be responsible for the selection process of the workers that will undergo screening. However, this does not prevent other workers from coming forward with their dental concerns.”
‘Aware of oral hygiene’
Most labourers who have come so far for screening are aware of oral hygiene issues.
Khawla explained that the four main departments involved in the initiative are endodontics, specialised in root canal treatment; oral surgery, which includes procedures such as removal of wisdom teeth and management of infections; periodontics, focusing on gum diseases; and prosthodontics, which is the treatment of damaged or missing teeth.