School-based Oral Health Promotion and Intervention in AMIGA (Alfonso, Mendez, Indang, General Emilio Aguinaldo, Amadeo) Cavite, Philippines

Abstract

Dental caries affects 87.4% of Filipinos while 48.3% have periodontal disease. In most developing lowincome countries like the Philippines, more than 90% of caries cases are left untreated. Because of the aparent disparities in health, the high cost of healthcare, unaffordable and unavailable health service, there was a call for reorientation towards prevention on a mass scale by the World Health Organization. This pushed for oral health promotion in schools. Schools provide an environment ideal for introducing preventive measures for developing sustainable health and promoting change in behavior with long-term health outcome improvements. The dental interns from the University of the Philippines College of Dentistry use community-based education to assist the community in developing programs that promote, achieve, and maintain oral health. The partners tapped in the inter-local health zone of AMIGA in Cavite were elementary and high schools in the five municipalities. The schools engaged in the program depended on the priority barangay identified by both AMIGA and the University. Thus, a needs analysis was the first step in isolating the emergent oral health problem before the program draft designing stage. Consultation and presentation of students' oral health status to the stakeholders, specifically parents, teachers, municipal dentist, municipal health officer, and local government officials were scheduled so that the needed support and commitment are both realized. The programs and activities done in the partner school were Oral Screening, Atraumatic Restorative Treatments, Scaling and Polishing, Topical Fluoride Application, and Oral Health Promotion. Both preventive and curative treatment modalities were employed in addressing the dental disease. Choice of the strategy was dependent on the resources of each municipality and reflects the local government prioritization on health. The success of the programs relied heavily on the participation of all the stakeholders from organizing, financing, promotion, and implementation. Endorsement of the activities to the municipal dentist, together with referrals of specific cases not managed in the community setting was done to facilitate monitoring and evaluation.