There is no organised dental health care service in rural Cambodia. Children up to
16 years can be treated for free in the dental clinic of the Angkor
Hospital for Children in Siem Reap, but transportation is often a
problem. For adults the only possibility is
to visit a private dentist, which is rather expensive.
In 2014 CAMDOC / CCA introduced a dental health care project at schools in
the Roeul Commune. The project was carried out in agreement with the
Siem Reap Department of the Ministry of Health. Children were screened
at the schools and when necessary treated in the Health Center. For the
younger children from the more remote villages, transport with the
CAMDOC 4WD pick up was organized by the schools.
In the Roeul Health Center a provisional traetment room was set up with
a mobile unit. There, three volunteering dentists from Germany did
extractions fillings and scalings. The CAMDOC staff served as
translators in the communication between dentist and patient. In
total 285 students were screened, 152 were treated.
It is intended that in the future the project is carried out once a year
with volunteering dentists. Eventually it should lead to some basic dental
health care services in the commune's health center carried out by local
dentists and nurses.