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Several surveys from 1960 onwards have shown a declining oral health situation in the Gambia. Today there are approximately ten practicing dentists in the Gambia. To read more about these studies search under studies/surveys on the home page. Due to the oral health situation in the Gambia the Swedish Dental Association decided to sponsor a health project at Bansang Hospital between 1987-1991. One of the participating dentists, Dr. Lars Göran Wärn, started the Swedent Clinic in 1991, in Kotu. This is a private run dental clinic which provides all kinds of patients with oral care at western standards. A few years later, in 1995, Dr. Wärn together with some other dentists formed the non governmental organization Afrikaada Teeth Savers the Gambia. The goal in a longer perspective was to improve the oral health at all levels in the country, even for people upriver Gambia with no economical needs. Good oral health shouldn’t be a class issue. In 2003 and 2006 Dr. Jette Lehrmann Madsen conducted two studies where the general oral health status and treatment need in the Gambia was recorded. The first study (2003) was performed on children at ages 5 and 12 years old, and the second (2006) was performed on Gambian adults in the age group 35 – 44 years old. The results were devastating (to read these studies in full text search under studies/surveys on the home page). In 2008 another study will be conducted for finding a cost effective preventive treatment plan for Gambian children. Unfortunately, due to lack of working force Afrikaada Teeth Savers the Gambia was dormant for a couple of years, until in 2007 when a number of dentists together with Dr. Wärn and Dr. Lehrmann Madsen revived the organization at a meeting in Stockholm. Once again the main goal was to improve the general oral health and thus the quality of life for people in the Gambia. This by means of implementing better ways of increasing awareness to oral health and to offer basic dental treatment for people in need without any economical profit. Gambian dentists Dr. Melville George and Dr. Pamela Esangebedo have issued National Oral Health Plans but there has never been a real possibility to implement a nationwide dental health program, to a great part due to lack of economical needs and few dental personnel. This is an important aspect when struggling to improve the oral health in general in a nation, and a natural goal to strive for. We believe that we all need to attack these problems together in order to solve the oral health issue in the Gambia. |
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