Design of dental equipment for remote rural and field areas.

In the context of providing dental services, remote areas may be defined as those with overall low population densities; or isolated areas of low population density within more populous regions; or areas of high population density remote from dental services. The provision of equipment for remote areas is not simply a matter of extending the supply of conventional operatories to these regions. The particular needs of a region must be assessed first with equipment and instruments being selected to serve the skills of personnel who can be trained locally. The preventive-surface care operatory is the most basic yet most widely usable operatory. Staffed by auxiliary personnel it will facilitate communication, primary care procedures and the completion of non-invasive tasks. The design of operatories to a preferred work position will simplify the design of fixed installations and associated equipment and overall costs will be reduced. New educational methodologies will influence the design and manufacture of equipment more than in the past. For remote areas there are physical and practical limitations to equipment design but the preferred work position should not be compromised. If this is maintained the transfer of skills between different work places is simplified and mobilization of the operatory is facilitated.