Utilization of Dental Services by Private School Children at AIMST University Dental Center

Introduction: In Malaysia, the government is the major provider of oral healthcare for the primary and secondary school children. Ministry of Health developed a program to improve the oral health status of school children which is referred as Incremental Dental Care. This program covers all school children of primary and secondary government schools in every state in Malaysia. Sekolah Ugama Daris is a private school located in Sungai Petani, Kedah which is not covered by the Incremental Dental Care. Objectives: The main objective of the study is to describe the dental service utilization patterns by private school children in Malaysia and various types of dental treatments done in this group. Methods: A private primary school was selected where oral health care was not provided for past few years. A one day planned oral health education program including tooth brushing drill was conducted in school by year 5 dental students from standard 1 to 5 to improve oral health knowledge and motivate school children regarding oral health in March 2010. Consent forms to show willingness to seek dental care at AIMST University Dental Center were distributed to all students. Groups of 8-10 children whose parents have given consent for treatment were picked up from the school and sent back on selected days of week. All necessary treatments were provided free of charge by year five dental students under the supervision of paedodontist. Data of utilization of services by school children was analyzed in June 2010. Results: Forty eight percent (45 male and 47 female) of 191 of school children had given consent and obtained 418 treatments of various kinds. Three major treatments include GIC restorations (40.7%), Extraction of grossly decayed deciduous teeth (19.9%) and fissure sealant application (11.2%). Conclusion: Other reasons apart from dental fear of child and parents knowledge to seek dental care were not clear where main barriers like cost, accessibility and knowledge were minimized. The amount of disease is high as these children had never utilized dental services previously. The reasons of 52% not utilizing the services to be further sought. Keywords: utilization, school children, private