Africa-Press – Mauritius. The newly renovated Dental Clinic at Odette Leal Community Health Centre, Beau Bassin, was inaugurated, today, by the Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Kailesh Kumar Jagutpal. The Director, Dental Services, from the Ministry of Health and Wellness, Dr I. Ramdin, was also present.
In a statement, Dr Jagutpal recalled that there are 48 dental facilities across the country and three in Rodrigues adding that these services are being offered in hospitals, mediclinics, and Area Health Centres.
Among the 48 Dental facilities, 12 are dedicated to specialised dental care such as orthodontics and endodontics, he added. The Health Minister indicated that in 2019, more than 265,000 patients availed of the dental services while in 2020, some 240,000 visitors were registered.
The Minister underlined that one of the Ministry’s policies in Oral Health Care is to improve access, quality and delivery of Dental Services by reducing waiting time, putting emphasis on customer care, and using latest dental technologies.
Apart from providing basic Oral Health Care and Specialised Dental Services, the Dental Services also focus on preventive strategies such as Oral Health Promotion and Education, he added.
Speaking about the newly renovated Dental Clinic, Dr Jagutpal highlighted that some Rs 1,5 million have been disbursed to that end. He expressed satisfaction that such a child-friendly and attractive Clinic where fear and pain are eliminated will now be accessible to some 22,000 inhabitants of the locality.
Emphasis, he underscored, is being laid on customer-care, and upgraded infrastructure. He announced that such child-friendly Dental Clinics will be set up across the country in a phased manner. He further dwelt on the e-health project which will be developed for hospitals, Health Centres, and Mediclincs.
The objective, he said, is to improve the quality and responsiveness of healthcare services as well as enable better continuity of care, secure and confidential health data/records management, better diagnosis of the diseases, and optimal information exchange to support better health outcome.
Dental Clinic at Odette Leal Community Health Centre
The Dental Clinic at Odette Leal Community Health Centre has been operational since the year 1999 and recently needed complete renovation.
Taking into consideration the fact that dental anxiety and fear in children are the main reasons for avoidance of dental care, which inevitably leads to poor oral hygiene, the Dental Clinic at Odette Leal Community Health Centre has been set up with a kid-friendly environment.
Already established in many developed countries, this will primarily prepare the child to have the first contact with the Dental Surgeon who will establish a friendly relationship with the child while delivering an effective and efficient dental treatment.
The Dental Clinic will also provide basic dental treatment to the nearby inhabitants with a catchment area of 22, 929. The Dental Clinic at Odette Leal recorded a total number of dental attendances amounting to 2,100 in the year 2020 despite the prevalence of the Covid-19.
The same kid-friendly set up will soon be adopted in the J. Nehru Hospital region where a Dental Clinic has already been earmarked. Eventually, other Dental Clinics will be set up around the country.
