"Inequality oral care utilization among 5-14 years group during first decade of Thai UCS"

I and Co-author: Dr.Weerasak Putthasri (IHPP) had a poster presentation on 7th Asian Conference of Oral Health Promotion for School Children (12-14 September 2013 at Ayodaya Resort Hotel, Bali, Indonesia). We used 3 databases from 2003, 2007 and 2011 Nation Health and Welfare Survey, described utilization trend and difference between children having Universal Health Coverage Benefit and Civil Servant Medical Benefit. The results interested participants from Cambodia which still has not any insurance system and could not conduct any national surveys since their government never supports the budget.  

 Only institutional settings were mentioned on this conference such as kindergartens, schools and service facilities. The presentation from other Asian countries stated their country profiles, oral health status, prevention program and related contents especially obstacles to deter people oral health improvement. Livings in hazard environments also make people are difficult to reach quality of lives. Like Cambodia, some countries (i.e. Indonesia, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam) still have not insurance systems therefore accessibility to primary oral care are main problem. Main service system that people use the care is private sector which available in urban areas according to ability to pay, while have no specific manpower policy to rectify service deficit in rural area. These concurrent situations lead to inequity of the service utilization and oral health.

 

To confront insufficient infrastructures in remote areas, relevant personnel tried to creatively use the existing resource i.e. floating big bottles (of aerate water) containing clean water and students could tilt them to pour the water while washing hands or brushing teeth.

Comparing to our neighboring countries, Thailand has more advance oral health promotive and preventive programs. Learning from Japan as a developed country, “school dentist” is an interesting innovation to responsible school children specifically. These dentists already unite and represented by “Association of school dentists”.

Booths of private businesses were also interesting. Lion enterprise showed a set of three plastic models for oral health education and training tooth-brushing skill. The strengths of the models produced by appropriate technology were light weight, easily to understand and reusable. The country host of next two years meeting is Taiwan.