By Mike Puia
Seghe
region.
STAFF of the Gizo hospital dental department in the Western province are touring communities and schools in Marovo lagoon this week.
Island Sun Gizo met members of the visiting team at Seghe hospital yesterday. Leader of the team is Michael Piasi, chief dental therapist at Gizo hospital.
Piasi said their visit is part of their annual tour programme to the province’s six zones.
For their Seghe tour, the dental department is visiting zone four. Seghe hospital comes under zone four.
He said they have only visited and completed zone one, which covers Gizo, this year.
However, financial issues have prevented the department from reaching out further as hoped.
Besides visiting and offering dental services to remote communities, the team is also conducting awareness in selected schools.
Piasi said the awareness is to encourage students to ensure they are educated about oral hygiene.
According to Piasi, zone four has a long history of oral issues. He said diet and poor oral care is the main factor.
At the end of each awareness and demonstration in schools, the team also shared pairs of Colgate and toothbrush.
According to Piasi, they are checking on patients’ teeth and serious cases are referred to Gizo.
He encourages locals to go to dental clinics and departments for early check-up to save their teeth.
