Dental group prophylaxis in schools and daycare centres is being expanded
With the start of a two-year pilot project, the youth dental service of the Office for Health and Prevention of the City of Chemnitz has been reinforced by an additional prophylaxis specialist for group dental prophylaxis in daycare centres and schools.
Under the leadership of and financed by the Landesarbeitsgemeinschaft für Jugendzahnpflege des Freistaates Sachsen e. V. (LAGZ Sachsen), the new employee is now working in the previously unsupervised children's facilities in Chemnitz. There, she will offer group dental prophylaxis at least once a year, to which all children up to the age of twelve are legally entitled. This will enable children to brush their own teeth in an age-appropriate way, motivate them to visit the dentist regularly and inform them about the benefits of healthy teeth.
"We are delighted about the launch of the pilot project because it means that an important building block for preventive dental care for children can be better secured," says Katja Uhlemann, Head of the Office for Health and Prevention of the City of Chemnitz.
For Birte Eckardt, Managing Director of LAGZ Sachsen, the pilot project is an excellent opportunity to improve the oral health of children and young people: "The number of facilities without regular dental group prophylaxis has risen steadily in Chemnitz in recent years, so this is where we see the most potential for improving group prophylactic care and oral health. With this project, we are making an important contribution to equal health opportunities."
Background
In the 2022/23 school year, around ten per cent of the 220 facilities in the city offered this service. The paediatric and adolescent dental service focuses on dental examinations in daycare centres and schools. The increasing number of facilities and children could not be compensated for by more volunteer dentists in private practice who act as mentors for a facility.