Oral Health D-Day brings services to 46 schools in the Federal District

On a D-day focused on children’s oral health, employees from the Federal District Health Department (SES-DF) carried out educational activities in 46 schools in the capital. The action, carried out this Wednesday (8), promoted ways of caring for teeth and implemented atraumatic restorative treatment (ART) in the student environment, a technique based on the concept of minimum intervention and maximum preservation of dental structures.

“The objective is for this day to be a milestone and for us to continue actions like this to, in fact, improve the quality of life of preschool children, preventing cavities from causing pain and hindering learning”, says the SES-DF dentist Fernanda Veríssimo.

The expert also highlighted the importance of integration between the Health and Education departments. “This collaboration is essential to make programs like this viable, mainly benefiting the school community. Many students would not have access to this type of service without the partnership. In this way, we are expanding children’s access to oral health care”, she points out.

Activities

The program taken to schools included a survey of students’ dental needs, an instructional video, practical brushing and flossing lessons, distribution of oral health kits and treatment of simpler cavities in children whose parents authorized it.

Professionals from the Department of Health also treated simple cavities in children whose parents gave authorization

Little Sofia Ferreira, 6, a student at the Early Childhood Education Center (CEI) 01 in São Sebastião, already understands how brushing can help. “Children need to brush their teeth properly, otherwise they can get cavities and bad breath and that’s not cool,” she warns.

According to the institution’s deputy director, Tatiane Oliveira, oral health care is essential to also ensure good academic performance. “These initiatives benefit families who face limited time and resources in taking their children to a health facility. Furthermore, this care is extremely important for the proper functioning of education, as a child in pain cannot learn or develop fully”, she assessed.

Six dental surgeons from SES-DF participated in the activities, in addition to five residents, three oral health technicians and managers, all from the Basic Health Unit (UBS) 1 of São Sebastião, responsible for the work.

D-Day in DF is part of a national initiative by the Ministry of Health, which will take similar actions to all states in the country.

*With information from the Department of Health (SES-DF)