90% of Ugandans need dental attention – experts

Dental surgeons under their umbrella body, Uganda Dental Association (UDA), have decried rising cases of dental health issues in the country.

Dr Muhammad Mbabali, a lecturer at the Makerere School of Dentistry said research by the African Health Science in partnership with the university shows 90 percent of Uganda’s more than 44 million people need dental attention.

“When we talk of oral health care, most of us interpret it as dental decay only, but it is a wide range of oral health care conditions that require dental care,” he explained while addressing journalists at the Makerere on Wednesday.

Dr Mbabali further explained that dental gum diseases are the commonest at 95 percent and if not managed well, the condition progresses to Periodontitis which is the breakdown of the structures and subsequent teeth shaking.

The experts attributed the surge in dental cases to excessive consumption of artificial sugars together with bottle feeding among toddlers.

“The best snack for your child are fruits and Uganda is blessed with that,” cosmetic dentist at Stelling Dental clinic, Dr Biren Yajnik observed.

According to government data, Uganda has a dentist-patient ratio of 1:120000 compared to the recommended World Health Organization (WHO) recommended 1:7500.

The UDA president, Dr Geoffrey Bataringaya highlighted need for empowering more practitioners to supplement about 398 licensed dental surgeons across the country, including those not practicing.

 “So if I am supposed to see 120,000 patients and the maximum I can offer is 4-6 patients a day, you can see the need, and when you relate those two, with the disease burden that goes up to 90percent. We (Uganda) are still in a dilemma,” he said.

Dr Bataringaya further urged government to extend more budgetary allocations to health systems since “oral health is equally important.”