The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is to participate with the world countries in celebrating the World Oral Health Day, which takes place on 25th March every year. The World Oral Health Day is celebrated this year under the theme: “Teeth: Health and Beauty”.
This was pointed out by the Advisor to the Minister of Health, Supervisor General of Relations, Media and Health Awareness, and Spokesman, Dr. Khalid Marghalani, indicating that the Ministry provides preventive and curative services through 2308 dental clinics all over the Kingdom, 1405 of which are at health centers, 468 at the Kingdom’s hospitals, 535 at the specialized centers and 104 mobile clinics. The total number of the specialized dental centers reached 31 centers disseminated throughout all the Kingdom’s health regions.
Within the same vein, the National Center for Media and Health Awareness at the Mistry of Health (MOH) will host Dr. Sulaiman Al-Rumaikhan, an Orthodontic Consultant and Supervisor of Preventive Programs at the Ministry on Tuesday, 25th March, 2014 (corresponding to 24th Jumada Al-Oula, 1435H) from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m., through the Center’s toll free number:8002494444 and the MOH account on Twitter: @SAUDIMOH; in order to answer all callers’ quires on the dental problems, their causes and way of prevention and treatment, aside from the problems of orthodontics and recommended solutions.
“For protection against tooth decay, the person should follow the following tips, including brushing teeth at least once or twice a day, after each meal, using a tooth paste containing fluoride, using dental floss at least once a day for cleaning the teeth, visiting a dentist periodically, avoiding food containing sugar such as candies and sweet juices, and eating healthy foods as they stimulate the secretion of saliva that protects teeth against the effects of acids,as well as reducing snacks to decrease the food available to the oral bacteria,” the Center’s report reads.
In addition, the report highlighted that the incidence of tooth decay among the Kingdom’s children, aged six years, reached 96%, and 93.7% among those aged twelve years.
Furthermore, the report showed that1.338.884 visits to dental centers have been recorded during the year of 1433 H. The great proportion of these visits “totaling 357.025 visits”were to X-ray clinics. Besides, the total number of oral surgeries conducted at the MOH hospitals over the period 1429 to 1433, reached from 10.024 to12.208 surgeries at a rate of 21.8 %.
For her part, the Director of the National Center for Media and Health Awareness, Ph. Amal bint Mu’awiah Abu-Al Jadayel, has underlined that a number of brochures, posters and rollers for dental diseases have been preparedand disseminated to the Kingdom’s health affairs general directorates for the celebration of the World Oral Heath Day.