Dental charity work--does it really help?
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Charities↗
Biomedical subjects
Wim van Palenstein Helderman
Publications and source records attributed to Wim van Palenstein Helderman.
Implementation of a Basic Package of Oral Care: towards a reorientation of dental Ngos and their volunteers.
Dental NGOs and volunteers working in disadvantaged communities around the world do so with the best of intentions and with high motivation. Regrettably, the impact of this engagement on oral health at the population level remains rather low. This is mainly due to the choice of inappropriate approaches, the failure to integrate their projects within existing health care systems and the lack of sustainability. This paper proposes the concept of the Basic Package of Oral Care (BPOC) as a guiding framework for dental NGO and volunteer activities. The main components of the BPOC (Oral Urgent Treatment, Affordable Fluoride Toothpaste, Atraumatic Restorative Treatment) offer many opportunities for effective, affordable and sustainable activities that aim to improve oral health on the community and population level. Only through a reorientation of dental volunteer services and NGOs towards new roles and activities can a sustained impact on global oral health be possible. Recommendations are given that could help dental NGOs and volunteers in this process of change.
Cariostatic Agents↗
Guidance for the planning, implementation and evaluation of oral health care demonstration projects for under-served populations.
Recently, it has been proposed that in planning oral health care services in non-established market economy (non-EME) countries, and for under- served communities throughout the world, high priority be given to a basic package of oral care (BPOC). This package contains three key components: emergency care (oral urgent treatment--OUT), exposure to appropriate fluoride (affordable fluoride toothpaste--AFT) and appropriate treatment technology (atraumatic restorative treatment--ART). These three components are embedded in the supporting context of oral health promotion (OHP). There is a lack of experience in implementing BPOC and besides, there is not much known about the effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability of the proposed components of BPOC, either individually or as a package, under local conditions. An effective approach in one setting may not be successful in another setting due to many factors such as a lack of acceptability by the community or local government or because of insufficient financial and human resources. It is therefore recommended to consider small scale demonstration projects for effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability assessments of the various components of BPOC before embarking on large scale programmes. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the different aspects related to the planning, implementation and evaluation of oral health demonstration projects for under-served communities.
Attitude to Health↗