Everyone one desires to have a healthy life, wherein good oral health plays an important role at every stage of life. A healthy mouth facilitates not only the nutrition, but also social interaction, self-esteem, and feelings of well-being. But Oral health is often disregarded or is not given much priority when it comes to health care.
With sole objectives of resolving and eradicating oral health problems in children and adults in the Sri Lankan society as well as to promote good oral health, the Community Service Avenue of the Rotaract Club of University of Sri Jayewardenepura initiated the project “Beyond Prevention” under three main phases.
The first phase of the project was a PR campaign including all the necessary health tips and information regarding oral health problems and diseases that can make young children and as well as adults, victims of a wide range of health risks. Several ongoing issues regarding oral health such as tooth loss, gum disease, bad breath, dental caries and proper tooth brushing techniques were addressed through the videos and they were shared through RACUSJ’s official social media platforms; Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter. The medical information was provided by Dental Surgeon Dr. Sakunthala Gunawardana.
As for the second phase of the project, two awareness sessions and a dental screening program were conducted for school children as well as teachers at Sri Rajasinghe Central College, Kuda Buthgamuwa and Pepiliyawala Kanishta Vidyalaya, Pepilyawala. These sessions were held with the continuous support of “Link Sudantha” by Link Natural Products (Pvt) Ltd. and the medical professionals. The program was very helpful in educating the school community regarding the oral diseases that are very popular among them, the root causes for the diseases, the treatments and how to prevent them.
Our team identified that Diabetes patients are having a high risk of oral diseases. Having oral diseases may lead to various kinds of other diseases as well for the patients. Therefore as a team, we needed to address this matter through our project. Hence, the third phase of the project was carried out by conducting Individual Oral Health Awareness Sessions and a Dental Screening Program for the patients who are being consulted at the K. F. Diabetes Centre, Malwana. The program was ended on a high note by educating the patients regarding the possible oral health diseases for diabetes patients, the root causes, suitable treatments for them and how to prevent them while giving them necessary tips to have a good oral health and hygiene.
As a team, we firmly believe that we were eventually successful in doing our part to the community while making a strong impact in the society, on the importance of oral health as well as the prevention and treatment of oral diseases; amidst these crisis situations in the country in order to make everyone’s lives better.
Written by Rtr. Nipuni Rajapakshe
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