Sote E O
Department of Child Dental Health, College of Medicine, University of Lagos.
Afr Dent J. 1993;7:11-9.
Human immunodeficiency virus infection in children is on the increase globally. Because of diagnostic difficulties of HIV infection in children, among other reasons, all children are suspects. As a result of new developments in the treatment of this condition, more people with HIV infection/AIDS will survive and require dental treatment on a long-term basis. Dental practitioners who treat children and adolescents are faced with increasing challenge of providing optimum oral health care for all youths regardless of their being infected with HIV or not. The paper presents the diversified roles dentists in African countries have to play owing to prevailing peculiar circumstances in their communities. They should not only be oral diagnosticians and oral health care providers, but also health educators and promoters, researchers, counsellors, and social workers. All oral health personnel particularly the dentist, must be well-learned to meet these demands. By discharging these duties effectively, the spread of HIV infection will be curbed, and both the oral health and the entire well-being of the child population will be enhanced.
全球范围内儿童感染人类免疫缺陷病毒的情况正在增加。由于儿童感染艾滋病毒存在诊断困难等原因，所有儿童都被视为疑似对象。由于这种疾病治疗方面的新进展，更多感染艾滋病毒/艾滋病的人将存活下来并长期需要牙科治疗。治疗儿童和青少年的牙科从业者面临着越来越大的挑战，即无论他们是否感染艾滋病毒，都要为所有青少年提供最佳的口腔保健。本文介绍了非洲国家的牙医由于其社区普遍存在的特殊情况而必须发挥的多样化作用。他们不仅应该是口腔诊断医生和口腔保健提供者，还应该是健康教育者和推广者、研究人员、顾问和社会工作者。所有口腔卫生人员，尤其是牙医，必须学识渊博才能满足这些要求。通过有效履行这些职责，艾滋病毒感染的传播将得到遏制，儿童群体的口腔健康和整体福祉都将得到提升。
