Dental Care for the Born to Live Charity Chiang Mai, Thailand
The Born to Live Charity is an organisation which provides general support to orphans with HIV in various areas of Thailand. The orphans reside either in large orphanages where they live with other children without HIV or in individual homes with foster parents and range in age from toddlers to young adults in their late teens. Dr Ross Napoli has been providing dental care to these orphans for several years and initiated the first dental care program for these children to ensure they have essential oral healthcare knowledge and receive regular dental attention.
On previous occasions Dr Napoli had worked in the Baan Gerda Orphanage in Lop Buri but June 2011 saw the first care provided in Chiang Mai in North Thailand. The facilities in Chiang were limited and confined to 2 large orphanages: Viengping Childrens Home and the Chiang Mai Shelter for Children and Families.
It must be said that dental care is available and financed by the Born to Live Charity however it is only done so when problems arise necessitating immediate attention. The aim of our dental care program has always been to identify serious problems amongst the children if any and prioritise treatment, create greater awareness of the types of problems that can arise, and education of the children and carers.
The HIV infected children in both orphanages were examined thoroughly and prioritised for treatment accordingly. Broad recommendations were given to children and carers with regard to the general nature of the problems identified along with detailed oral hygiene instructions and dietary advice. The importance of fluoride was also stressed as all children drink bottled water with little fluoride providing very limited protection from decay.
Above: Dr Napoli with Head of Paediatrics and HIV unit Dr Suparat Kanjanavanit
In addition Dr Napoli attended clinical sessions in the Paediatric department of the Nakornping public hospital with the head of HIV unit and Paediatrics, Dr Suparat Kanjanavanit. In conjuction with Dr Jintanat Ananworanich*, Dr Kanjanavanit manage all medical care for the orphans. Findings were again discussed with Dr Kanjanavanit and recommendations made to improve early detection of problems in high risk children and strategies to minimise future problems. A large donation of dental equipment which has been gradually sourced by Dr Napoli has been provided to the Nakornping Hospital in order to launch their dental program and encourage local dentists to treat the children at the hospital when clinics are in session improving overall accessibility.
Despite the lack of basic resources the effort appears to have been extremely fruitful and we look forward to hearing further updates from the paediatric team at the Nakornping public hospital. Our sincere thanks must be given to Garth Lodge from Gunz Dental and SADS for their very generous and kind support to the Born to Live Charity.
*Deputy Director in Scientific Affairs at HIV-NAT, Chief at SEARCH
Induction into the International College of Dentists
We congratulate Steve Oppes for his induction into the International College of Dentists at the convocation of the Australasian section of the College in Brisbane in March 2011.
Membership in the International College of Dentists is by invitation only, an honor bestowed upon those dentists who have made significant contributions to the profession, the community and their families. For Steve these include membership of the Dental Board of South Australia and the Notification and Registration Committee of the Dental Board of Australia (SA), chairman of Postgraduate Committee in Dentistry at the Adelaide University and a member and office bearer in a number of dental societies
As a Fellow of the International College of Dentists he is part of an organization that is "dedicated to ... the continued progress of the profession of dentistry for the benefit of all humankind. Toward that goal, each of the autonomous sections of the College creates and sustains humanitarian projects around the globe.”
Well done Steve.
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