The Government Dental College, Kozhikode, is introducing a mobile dental clinic as part of extending the services of its community dentistry department to a wider section of the society.
The mobile dental clinic is meant to reach out to patients in the interior parts of the region. This is besides an evening clinic the college is planning to launch to make its services available to more people.
The mobile clinic will provide needy patients with on-the-spot dental care. The camps held now stop at diagnosing the problems and prescription of treatment. “The mobile unit, equipped with all the basic facilities, is expected to fill the gap,” N. Retnakumari, Principal of the college told The Hindu.
The air-conditioned unit, sanctioned by the State government as part of the residency programme for dentists introduced by the previous government, consists of a dental chair, generator and other basic medical facilities. The van that can accommodate around 10 people at a time, including a patient, doctor, and other supporting staff, has already reached at the hospital and will be inaugurated by Health Minister V.S. Sivakumar on Sunday.
The unit cost Rs. 25 lakh, she said.
The dental college also decided to start an evening clinic at the college to make its services available to a larger number of people, Dr. Retnakumari said. At present, the outpatient (OP) section of the college functions from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. This includes various treatments offered to 300 to 400 patients on a daily basis. “We still have a number of pending cases, which we expect to handle during the evening clinic, which will function from 2.30 to 6.30 p.m.,” she said.
The evening clinic services will, however, be available only for those who register in advance. The expansion of services, including that of the mobile unit, will also require more staff strength for the hospital. “We have already written to the authorities regarding this,” she said.
