School Oral Health Program in Kuwait

Jitendra Ariga 1, Sabiha Al-Mutawa, Huda Nazar

Affiliations

01 January 2014

-

doi: 10.1159/000356504

Abstract

The School Oral Health Program (SOHP), Kuwait, is a joint venture between the Ministry of Health, Kuwait, and Forsyth Institute, Cambridge, Mass., USA. This program provides oral health education, prevention and treatment to almost 280,000 public school children in Kuwait. Services are delivered through a system of center- and school-based clinics and preventive mobile teams. One of the recent developments is the effective use of portable dental units for the delivery of preventive care to children in schools without the need for children to go to dental clinics. Preventive procedures performed under this program are the biannual application of fluoride varnish and the placement of pit and fissure sealants on newly erupted permanent molars and premolars. During recent years, the SOHP has improved its coverage of children, with prevention up to 80%. This has resulted in a considerable reduction in treatment needs, which is evident from the reduced number of composite restorations performed under this program during the last 6 years. This indicates that the disease level is on a decline, which can be confirmed from the results of the ongoing National Oral Health Survey on Kuwaiti school children.

Figures

Fig. 1 Positive consents and prevention coverage during 2006-2011: the improvement in positive consents among kindergarten and primary school children by almost 20%. This has helped the SOHP to increase its prevention coverage during the same period.

Fig. 1 Positive consents and prevention coverage during 2006-2011: the improvement in positive consents among kindergarten and primary school children by almost 20%. This has helped the SOHP to increase its prevention coverage during the same period.

Fig. 2 Treatment procedures in comparison to preventive procedures since 2006: the changes observed in terms of preventive procedures performed in comparison with composite restorations done since 2006-2007. There has been a significant reduction in composite fillings done under the SOHP and at the same time the productivity of preventive procedures performed has increased considerably.

Fig. 2 Treatment procedures in comparison to preventive procedures since 2006: the changes observed in terms of preventive procedures performed in comparison with composite restorations done since 2006-2007. There has been a significant reduction in composite fillings done under the SOHP and at the same time the productivity of preventive procedures performed has increased considerably.

Fig. 3 Composite fillings against pit and fissure sealants since 2006: the comparison between composite fillings and sealants done under the SOHP during 2006 to 2011. It is clearly seen that the composite fillings have been overtaken in terms of productivity by pit and fissure sealants.

Fig. 3 Composite fillings against pit and fissure sealants since 2006: the comparison between composite fillings and sealants done under the SOHP during 2006 to 2011. It is clearly seen that the composite fillings have been overtaken in terms of productivity by pit and fissure sealants.

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