Solomon Islands to benefit from new mobile dental clinic

The newly mobile dental clinic that was donated to the Ministry of Health and Medical Services, Solomon Islands, from Oral Health Victoria and the Rotary Club of Ballarat West (RCBW) will boost oral health for children in Honiara.

The mobile dental clinic is a fully equipped air-conditioned unit that will offer a comprehensive range of dental care services, including fillings, fissure sealants, and X-rays, and features its own sterilisation facility. Its future role is expected to introduce a program of painless preventative dentistry, starting with supervised toothbrushing with delicious bubble-gum flavoured fluoride toothpaste in selected primary schools.

Ministry of Health and Medical Services, Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Pauline McNeil acknowledged and thanked Oral Health Victoria and RCBW for donating the customised dental van purposely retrofitted for the school dental program.

“This is very timely, noting the emphasis that the Ministry of Health places on primary health care, decentralisation of health services, and improving accessibility to health care especially for our school aged children. This is truly a game changer for the school oral health services.

“And with the latest donation of the dental van, we can assure you that more school children will be seen and treated. Your kind hearts has enabled the dental department to continue to serve and meet the oral health needs of this country”, said Mrs. McNeil.

Each van has been serviced and equipped, and the dental service will receive consumables and instruments each year as part of a five-year agreement. Oral Health Victoria will provide remote technical support to help maintain the equipment.

RCBW representative Dr. David Goldsmith said sweet sugary food is available everywhere in Honiara, and its children have a high incidence of tooth decay. Seventy percent (70%) of children have teeth with decay when they enter primary school. There is not enough money or manpower available to treat this tooth decay problem by dentists. Many children miss school days or struggle to concentrate due to suffering from a toothache.

“The aim is to introduce a program into the Solomon Islands that has been proven to work successfully in Vanuatu, and to address this problem by utilising the dental van among dentists, nurses, and teachers. This dental truck will enable direct access to schools by dental professionals, providing education and prevention services,” said David.

Oral Health Victoria provided students with tooth packs containing toothbrushes and toothpaste. One toothbrush will be kept in the classroom for supervised brushing by the teaching, and the other is taken home.

The truck has only 3000 km on its odometer and is accessible to disabled patients, and runs economically from a standard domestic power supply.

The capacity-building Colin Riley Scholarship

Oral Health Victoria established the Colin Riley Scholarship to enable Victorian public oral health professionals to participate in clinical placements and support the delivery of training in the Western Pacific region. The scholarship was developed in honour of a beloved former DHSV colleague, Dr Colin Riley, who devoted his career to improving public oral health.

As part of the Colin Riley Scholarship, three decommissioned dental vans have been donated to Tonga, Fiji, and the Solomon Islands. The scholarship was established to provide 5 years’ support and the mobile dental trucks will provide help where it is needed most. Work is currently underway to explore bringing staff from the Pacific Islands to Australia. This work is under a Memorandum of Understanding between the Solomon Islands Ministry of Health and Oral Health Victoria

We’ll share future opportunities to apply for the Colin Riley Scholarship with you. Learn more about the scholarship.