Start date
03/03/2025
End date
03/03/2025
The Department of Community Dentistry of Dow International Dental College (DIDC) organized a Weekly Community Dental Visits inside the Central Jail Karachi for the male inmates specifically from January – February 2025. The 3rd year BDS students of DIDC co-created this project for community-engagement and participation by involving the inmates through self-care oral hygiene and preventive dental practices.
Over the period of four-weeks 570 male inmates (age range= 18 – 75 years) were also thoroughly examined for their oral health status along with screening of their non-communicable disease (NCDs) status. The most prevalent oral problems observed in these inmates were decayed teeth (78%) followed by poor oral hygiene (60%) and calculus (50%). On the other extreme almost 2% of these inmates were found suffering from Oral Submucous Fibrosis which is a pre-malignant state of the oral cavity.
Within limited resources, almost 10% of these inmates were provided oral urgent treatment (OUT) during these visits such as mobile and painful tooth extractions, ART (atraumatic restorations / tooth fillings), oral hygiene instructions (OHI) and periodontal prophylaxis. Regular reinforcement regarding maintenance of oral hygiene and oral health education is found crucial in this population group.
The team was led by Chairperson Community Dentistry – Prof. Dr. Ambrina Qureshi, Dr. Qaiser Ali Baig and Dr. Mustafa Naseem with members including Dr. Rida Batool, Dr. Ather Khan (Masters Trainee) and Dental Hygienists- Mr. Habib Shah and Ms. Misbah Noor from School of Dental Care Professionals.
On the other side, the team of facilitators (Sindh Police Officers and staff) from the Central Jail was led by SSP Abdul Karim Abbasi and AIG Imtiaz Ali Soomro.
The teams especially acknowledged the support from the Vice Chancellor of Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) Prof. Mohammed Saeed Quraishy T.I, and the Registrar DUHS Dr. Ashar Afaq.
For more pictures:-
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1QiqJ8ioFS
