adminSenior Reporter
SCORES of Bulawayo residents are receiving free dental treatment at the city’s Government Dental Services this week as part of efforts to promote good oral health. Since Monday, the institution has been offering free dental treatment to patients as part of its community awareness programme aimed at preserving healthy teeth.
The programme ends tomorrow.
In an interview yesterday, a dentist at the institution, Dr Makhosi Mayisa, said the number of patients seeking treatment went up this week as people took advantage of the free service.
“Since we started offering the free service on Monday, we are receiving many patients seeking treatment. Normally we take 30 patients per day but this week we have been attending to up to 60 patients a day,” said Dr Mayisa.
“Most patients are coming for tooth extraction and very few are seeking general consultation.”
Dr Mayisa said under normal operations the consultation fee at the institution is $5 while extraction costs $15 with general cleaning pegged at $25.
He said children under the age of five and the elderly aged 65 and above are treated for free.
Dr Mayisa urged members of the public to take advantage of the free service.
“We have realised that generally people are afraid to consult us and they only visit us when they are in pain. At that time it will be too late and the only option that will be left will be tooth extraction,” he said.
Dr Mayisa said tooth extraction was not the only remedy as there were many ways of saving one’s teeth.
“When a tooth develops a cavity (hole) we are able to administer a general filling. We also have the root carnal method, which involves amputation of blood vessels before filling. This one takes a bit longer and is expensive,” said Dr Mayisa.
He said for those who would have lost their teeth, they put dentures, which are false teeth or replacement teeth that are removable.
“There is also what we call crowning and bridging, which is a fixed filling of gaps in teeth. The other option is an implant or ultimate replacement where a metal tooth is drilled into the bone. This one is expensive and costs between $800 and $3 000,” he said.
Dr Mayisa said the common dental concern for the rural populace was flourosis, a condition in which people develop a yellow to brown layer on their front teeth.
Dr Mayisa said poor oral health was the biggest cause of swollen and bleeding gums.
“People should brush their teeth after meals and eat properly. Often sugary diets contribute to tooth decay,” he said.
Last week the country commemorated national oral health day with dentists urging the Government to take the sector seriously. They said there was a need to provide adequate human and capital resources if the services were to improve.
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