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Teethsavers International’s project is a three-year longitudinal basic epidemiology oral health survey of ages six and
seven and age twelve by random sampling in Katete District of Zambia.
Teethsavers Major Supporters in the Discipline of Oral Health Care and our three year oral health survey:
Dr. Pashane Mtolo, DDS, MPH, Chief Dental Officer of Zambia who has provided Teethsavers expert guidance and direction for
over five years.
Dr. Jo Frencken, MSc, DDS, PhD, Head of Research, Nijmegen Dental School, the Netherlands, 14 years in Africa Developing ART,
our consultant since 2000 who has been most instrumental to the program, now on Teethsavers Board of Directors and Academy
of Dentistry International, Dentist of the Year 1999.
Dr. Ramon Baez, DDS, MPH, Professor and Head of WHO Collaborating Center for Translation of Oral Health Science into Clinical
and Public Health Practice, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, Texas, for Dental Calibration. Dr. Baez
will oversee calibration exercises leading to a 3-year longitudinal basic epidemiology oral health survey in Zambia’s
Eastern Province focusing on children ages 6 and 7 and age 12, the danger years for Six-Year Molars. Academy of Dentistry
International, Dentist of the Year 2001.
Dr. Poul Erik Petersen, DDS, Dr. Odont Sci, DDS MSc, Director Global Oral Health Program, World Health Organization (WHO),
Geneva, Switzerland, who wrote in an email dated 23 August 2006 --- “Dr. Rudd, your Zambia program appears to have demonstrated
success in the implementation of oral health at the village level. It will be most important if such activities and their
impact on oral health can be documented and serve as a model for other communities/countries. Dr. Baez has substantial experience
in calibration and his support would be good.
The Project: Other than the teacher’s workshop and seminar for village oral health teachers, our teaching is designed
with illiterate children and adults in mind and one class at a time, using teaching aids, followed by several Teethsavers
taking small groups for demonstrations and one-on-one instructions for each child and parent or guardian, if present. Next
is oral health screening, followed by examination and treatment which parents, guardians, teachers and children not needing
treatment are encouraged to watch.
DANGER YEARS:
Most molar decay starts the first four years after eruption. This is the danger years for six-year molars as children ages
6 and 7, some 8, even with proper instructions, do not have adequate manual dexterity or muscle development to properly clean
their molars, which necessitates a responsible person to clean the molars as the child learns. Those children without a responsible
person are taught Friend to Friend, assisting them to teach a responsible person at home how to properly clean their molars.
Teethsavers International, Inc. survey includes, by age, grade, gender and vulnerable or non vulnerable.
The data to be collected for comparison of oral hygiene changes in the following classifications
(1) rural and urban
(3) parent and guardian, present or not present
(4) recurrent decay
(5) new decay
(6) toothbrush competency
(7) frayed toothbrush
(8) days a team stays at the same school 1, 3 or 5
(9) repetitious reinforcement and no reinforcement
During the three year project, we know some ART sealants and ART restorations will need repair or replacement. We know some
children will accumulate plaque, of which some will mineralize forming hard calculus. Every 3 months, on a recall basis, at
the primary school, we will evaluate all children previously treated using an evaluation form developed by Dr. Jo Frencken,
for repair or replacement of ART sealants or ART restorations and plaque and calculus scored for appropriate treatment. On
the recall basis ALL children in grades 1 thru 4 will have tooth brush competency scored and each given recommendations to
maintain or improve oral health.
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