RIYADH, 19 June 2007 — Saudi children will now have to go for primary dental checkups at 18 months before their names can be included in their father’s ID cards, said Dr. Hassan S. Halawany, secretary of the Saudi Dental Society.
Halawany was speaking at the “Contemporary Preventive Dentistry Symposium,” which was inaugurated yesterday in Riyadh by Assistant Minister of Interior for Security Affairs Prince Mohammed ibn Naif. The Kingdom has now become the first country in the world to mandate such regulations.
The symposium was also attended by Minister of Health Dr. Hamad Al-Manie, Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Moammar, director general of the Medical Services Division at the Ministry of Interior, Dr. Ibrahim Al-Asim, director general of the Dental Section at the Security Forces Hospital (SFH) and chairman of the symposium’s organizing committee, and Dr. Yousif Talic, president of the Saudi Dental Society.
A number of national and international speakers from the Kingdom and abroad are also attending the conference, which is discussing various aspects of preventive dentistry.
The whole thrust of the symposium is to raise awareness among mothers.
Dental caries, which has assumed alarming proportions, is being tackled through a mass awareness campaign involving the distribution of leaflets, toothpastes and toothbrushes, in schools, hospitals, shopping malls and other public places.
Some 12,000 students (both boys and girls) have been covered in the first phase of the campaign, which will be extended to other areas away from cities, Dr. Halawany said.
Underlining the importance of the initiative undertaken by the SFH, Prince Mohammed said it was a good example, which would help increase awareness of dental hygiene in society and help prevent the incidence of dental diseases in future.
Speaking on behalf of the Ministry of Health, Dr. Al-Manie said that as many as 92 percent of Saudi children are facing the problem of dental cavities, which is a widespread one not only in the Kingdom but also in the world.
The ministry has set up 1,900 dental clinics manned by 7,800 male and female dentists all over the Kingdom, and has also sent 170 students abroad for higher studies in dentistry.
Dr. Al-Manie said the ministry would later this year provide 48 fully equipped mobile dental clinics in various regions as part of plans to create an awareness of dental hygiene in society. The minister also explained the importance of including preliminary dental check-ups in the vaccination card. This is in line with their philosophy that prevention is better than cure.
Dr. Ibrahim Alasim, director general of the Dental Section at SFH, said an important element of the program would involve educating mothers on the need for dietary and nutritional care during pregnancy.
They will also be briefed on the benefits of breastfeeding and keeping a balanced diet. He further advised lactating mothers to bring their babies for dental check-ups between six and 12 months, adding that it would now be compulsorily at 18 months.
Dr. Alasim observed that the conference would conclude with a set of recommendations based on the suggestions received from specialists from various government organizations, including the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education, the Saudi Dental Society and academia. He further hoped that the conference would become the forerunner of similar initiatives in other Gulf states.
