Department of Community Oral Health

Permanent URI for this community

https://hdl.handle.net/10566/1898
The Community Oral Health Department p​rovides undergraduate- as well as postgraduate programmes which enable students to make a diagnosis of a population’s oral health problems, establish the causes and effects of the problems and plan effective interventions through interdisciplinary co-operation and organized efforts of society. The discipline is concerned with promoting the health of a population and therefore focuses action at community level as opposed to an individual. It is underpinned by a range of related sciences, eg. Disease Prevention, Epidemiology (Measuring Health and Disease), Health Services Management and Planning and Behavioural Sciences. The Department is also responsible for managing the outreach programmes in the country.

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Browsing by Subject "Adolescents"

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    School-based HIV counselling and testing: providing a youth friendly service
    (2012) Lawrence, Estelle; Struthers, Patricia
    HIV counselling and testing (HCT) is an essential element in the response to the HIV epidemic. Thereare still major gaps in research about the best ways to provide HCT, especially to young people. School-based HCT is a model which has been suggested for providing HCT to young people in a youth friendly manner. This study was aimed at producing recommendations for providing a youth friendly school-based HCT service using the World Health Organisation (WHO) framework for youth friendly health services. It was conducted in six secondary schools in Cape Town, where a mobile HCT service is provided by a nongovernmental organisation (NGO). It was an exploratory descriptive study, using a mixed-methods approach. Twelve focus group discussions (FGDs) were held with learners to explore their needs with regards to school-based HCT. An evaluation (which consisted of observation of the HCT site, service provider interviews and direct observation of the HCT counselling process) was done to determine whether the mobile school-based HCT service was youth friendly. A learner survey was conducted with 529 learners to investigate the factors that influence the uptake of HCT and to explore learners’ behaviours and experiences under test conditions. In the FGDs, learners said that they wanted HCT to be provided in schools on condition that their fears and expressed needs were taken into account. They wanted their concerns regarding privacy and confidentiality addressed; they wanted to be provided with information regarding the benefits and procedure of HCT before testing took place; they wanted service providers to be competent to work with young people, and they wanted to be assured that those who tested positive were followed up and supported. On evaluation of the mobile school-based HCT service, it was evident that the service did not meet all the needs of the learners nor did it have all the characteristics of a youth friendly health service. The model of ‘mass testing’ used by the NGO did not fulfil learners’ expressed need for privacy with regards to HCT. Service providers were friendly and on-judgemental but had not been trained to work with young people (especially marginalised groups e.g. young men who have sex with men). The information needs of learners were not addressed, and learners were not involved in the provision of the HCT service. Learners who tested positive were not assisted in accessing care and support. The learner survey revealed a high uptake of HCT (71% of learners) at schools with learners who do not identify themselves as Black, with female learners and older learners being more likely to have had an HIV test. Factors that influenced uptake of HCT were complex, with learners reporting many different motivators and barriers to testing. Of concern was the low risk perception of learners with regards to HIV infection and the fact that learners who tested HIV positive were not being linked up with treatment and care. Based on the findings of the study, recommendations were made for proving youth friendly school based HCT. A multisectoral approach, with learner and community involvement, was suggested in order to provide a service which is equitable, accessible, acceptable, appropriate and effective.
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    Self-assessment of oral health status, behaviours and oral health risk factors among adolescents from urban and peri-urban public schools in Maputo City
    (University of the Western Cape, 2019) Mepatia, Amália Issufo; Myburgh, Neil
    A good oral health self-perception can contribute to improved knowledge of oral health self-care and practice as well as increase the proper use of dental care services. This study evaluated how adolescents from urban and peri-urban Maputo City assess their oral health status, behaviour and oral health risk factors. This is an analytic cross-sectional study, conducted in the urban and peri-urban schools of Maputo City involving adolescents in the age groups of 12 and 15-19 years old. The study was carried out in five schools, three Complete Primary schools and two Secondary schools from urban and peri-urban areas in Maputo City selected by convenience due to their geographic location. The size of the sample was 500 comprising 236 twelve year olds and 264 15-19 year olds. Data was collected using a self-completion questionnaire designed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and translated into Portuguese. The questionnaire included variables such as socio-demographic data (age, gender, location and parent or guardian level of education), self-assessment of oral health status and quality of life; self reported oral health behaviour and lifestyles, oral health risk factor knowledge (alcohol, tobacco and dietary), dental visits and daily impact of oral health. Chi-square for associations and a Spearman correlation tests were used to determine relationships between categorical data. All tests were assumed statistically significant at p≤0.05. The results showed that most of the adolescents classified their teeth (49.7%) and gum (38.2%) health as normal. There was no statistical difference between adolescents from urban and peri-urban schools (Spearman rs (399) = 0,114, p =0,02). The majority (n=322; 65.2%) of the adolescents clean their teeth twice a day. There was no difference between school level (primary and secondary school) and frequency of teeth cleaning. Most of the adolescents use a toothbrush (97.8%) and toothpaste (93.5%) to clean their teeth and only 11.9% also use dental floss but 52.1% didn´t know if their toothpaste was fluoridated or not. Smoking was reported by less than 1% of the adolescents. The main reason for dental service utilization, (reported by 67.5%) was pain or problems with teeth, gums or mouth. There was an association between oral health status and problems experienced in daily life because of their teeth and mouth. There was no significant difference for oral health assessment, risk factors and behaviours, between adolescents from urban and peri-urban schools. Although some satisfactory results were found, the need to strengthen oral health promotion in schools is high, especially considering the causes for dental service utilization were mostly pain and trouble with teeth in this group.