Ganavadiya R, Chandrashekar Br, Goel P, Hongal Sg, Jain M
Department of Public Health Dentistry, People's Dental Academy, Bhanpur, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India.
Ann Med Health Sci Res. 2014 May;4(3):293-304. doi: 10.4103/2141-9248.133364.
India is the second most populous country in the world with an extensive rural population (68.8%). Children less than 18 years constitute about 40% of the population. Approximately, 23.5% of the urban population resides in urban slums. The extensive rural population, school children and the urban slum dwellers are denied of even the basic dental services though there is continuous advancement in the field of dentistry. The dentist to population ratio has dramatically improved in the last one to two decades with no significant improvement in the oral health status of the general population. The various studies have revealed an increasing trend in oral diseases in the recent times especially among this underserved population. Alternate strategies have to be thought about rather than the traditional oral health-care delivery through private dentists on fee for service basis. Mobile and portable dental services are a viable option to take the sophisticated oral health services to the doorsteps of the underserved population. The databases were searched for publications from 1900 to the present (2013) using terms such as Mobile dental services, Portable dental services and Mobile and portable dental services with key articles obtained primarily from MEDLINE. This paper reviews the published and unpublished literature from different sources on the various mobile dental service programs successfully implemented in some developed and developing countries. Though the mobile and portable systems have some practical difficulties like financial considerations, they still seem to be the only way to reach every section of the community in the absence of national oral health policy and organized school dental health programs in India. The material for the present review was obtained mainly by searching the biomedical databases for primary research material using the search engine with key words such as mobile and/or portable dental services in developed and developing countries (adding each of these terms in a sequential order). Based on the review of the programs successfully implemented in developed countries, we propose a model to cater to the basic oral health needs of an extensive underserved population in India that may be pilot tested. The increasing dental manpower can best be utilized for the promotion of oral health through mobile and portable dental services. The professional dental organizations should have a strong motive to translate this into reality.
印度是世界上人口第二多的国家，农村人口众多（占68.8%）。18岁以下儿童约占人口的40%。大约23.5%的城市人口居住在城市贫民窟。尽管牙科领域不断进步，但广大农村人口、学童和城市贫民窟居民甚至无法获得基本的牙科服务。在过去的一二十年里，牙医与人口的比例有了显著提高，但普通人群的口腔健康状况却没有明显改善。各种研究表明，近年来口腔疾病呈上升趋势，尤其是在这些服务不足的人群中。必须考虑替代策略，而不是通过按服务收费的私人牙医提供传统的口腔保健服务。移动和便携式牙科服务是一种可行的选择，可以将先进的口腔健康服务送到服务不足人群的家门口。使用移动牙科服务、便携式牙科服务以及移动和便携式牙科服务等术语，在数据库中搜索了1900年至2013年的出版物，主要从MEDLINE获取关键文章。本文回顾了来自不同来源的已发表和未发表的文献，这些文献涉及在一些发达国家和发展中国家成功实施的各种移动牙科服务项目。尽管移动和便携式系统存在一些实际困难，如财务方面的考虑，但在印度缺乏国家口腔健康政策和有组织的学校牙科健康项目的情况下，它们似乎仍然是覆盖社区各阶层的唯一途径。本综述的资料主要通过使用搜索引擎，在生物医学数据库中搜索主要研究资料获得，关键词为发达国家和发展中国家的移动和/或便携式牙科服务（按顺序添加每个术语）。基于对发达国家成功实施项目的综述，我们提出了一个模型，以满足印度广大服务不足人群的基本口腔健康需求，该模型可进行试点测试。增加的牙科人力可以通过移动和便携式牙科服务得到最佳利用，以促进口腔健康。专业牙科组织应有强烈的动机将其变为现实。
