Prevention occurs when a disease is present, but screening plays a vital role when illness is not yet being experienced by the individual. This level of prevention is particularly important in oral health, as dental caries and periodontal disease are often initially asymptomatic and continue to have minimal symptoms until progressing to the point at which the disease is severe and the symptoms have a significant impact on quality of life. Given this progression, a screening programme – to identify dental caries and periodontal disease – is a necessary component of the services provided b Community Centre.

At the Community Centre our dental professionals will check the lips, tongue, teeth, gums, inside of the cheeks, and roof of the mouth to identify oral disease, especially tooth decay, or other oral conditions (for example, delayed tooth eruption or premature tooth loss, abscesses, or trauma) and to provide basic treatment. Oral cancer screening is added to the screening protocol.

Oral history

For assessing the oral health history of the patient, questions regarding past visits to the dentist and past oral health treatments are asked. In order to assess current oral health status, inquiries about the symptoms of oral diseases are in place, in order to determine those at risk for having or developing significant oral health problems. For dental caries, questions about the presence of tooth pain acts as preliminary screening. The presence of bleeding, especially following brushing, is a typical symptom in gingivitis and periodontal disease. By implementing this screening protocol, screening for oral disease becomes comprehensive, penetrating the population at every level of care.

Oral health education, basic oral hygiene practices such as using a toothbrush and fluoridated toothpaste to brush twice a day are covered. Along with proper distribution and supervision of the fluoridated mouth rinse.

Basic treatment

Basic treatment are typically those treatments and procedures that are relatively straightforward in nature, like the following:

• emergency care for pain relief
• periodontal scaling
• amalgam fillings
• composite fillings (white fillings)
• sedative fillings
• routine tooth extractions

Oral health risk assessment will be done whereby the dentist will ask about the following:

• Tobacco and alcohol use (cancers);
• Family history of oral cancers;
• Gutka consumption;
• Methamphetamine use (erosions).