Qualified dentist ready to serve in rural area

A newly inducted dentist into the Mental and Dental Council, has expressed her desire to work in rural communities without water electricity, potable water or phone services.

“I am ready to serve so long as the relevant tools and facilities to work are available,” says Dr Geraldine Naa Amanuah Ankrah.

She told the Ghana News Agency in interview in Accra, at the weekend that dentistry is a healthcare specialiality that is often given less importance than other areas in medicine.

She said dental hygiene is so paramount among rural and city dwellers irrespective of geographical location.

“But unfortunately one thing about Ghana is that when it comes to dental care, we don’t really concentrate on it as we do to general medicine,” she said.

Dr Ankrah was among the inducted 124 newly qualified doctors inducted into the Mental and Dental Council.

“In some hospitals we still don’t have dental units or dental departments, so if it’s a rural area that have the facilities, why not, I am ready to be posted there.”

The young medical doctor plans to carry out aggressive public education on the importance of good dental care practise and whip up public interest in dental cleanliness.

“In fact, I have already started, I’ll brighten the corner wherever I am and then very soon it will spread.

“I have taken the Hippocratic Oath pledging ‘I will practice my profession with conscience and dignity’.”

She expressed mixed feelings for completing the medical course, adding: “I am more emotional than excited, I am now feeling the reality of everything today.”

“The point is that I went through a lot, I won’t say financial difficulties, I am grateful today am able to make it…A lot of us wrote the exams but less than half of us were able to pass.”

Dr Ankrah had part of her general medicine studies in Russian where language remained a serious challenge and completed the last bit in Ghana specialising in Dentistry.

Health officials say chronic gum disease caused by dental problems would most likely increase the risk of other health conditions including heart diseases, respiratory disorders and diabetic complications.

It could also affect the health of babies born to mothers with the disease.

However, dentistry profession is often forgotten in the globalised era where wider variety of food is eaten and there is growing need for children and young people to have regular dental check-ups and treatment.

Unfortunately Ghana faces acute supply of dentists as the World Health Organisation (WHO) data shows that in 2008 the country had only 148 dentists, which is equivalent to 0.06 dentists per 10,000 people.

This is in sharp contrast with the UK where there are 5.17 dentists per 10,000 people.

According to WHO, severe periodontal (gum) disease, which may result in tooth loss, is found in 15 to 20 per cent of middle-aged - 35 to 44 years.

It said the incidence of oral cancer ranges from one to 10 cases per 100 000 people in most countries while the prevalence is relatively higher in men, older people, and among people of low education and low income with Tobacco and alcohol being major causal factors.