Pune: The Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Cantonment General Hospital of Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) has started an initiative where cantonment school students will be examined for dental hygiene.
Many students avoid seeking medical help due to high expenses and this initiative is aimed at addressing their health issues.
The initiative was started in Ghorpadi in February and more than 500 students of Swami Vivekanand Primary School were examined and given free medical treatment.
The hospital's Resident Medical Officer, VD Gaikwad, said, “The initiative was started mainly for the underprivileged children. They tend to miss out on normal medical facilities. If their dental health is ignored they could face several problems.”
Nikhil Yadav, Master of Dental Surgery (MDS) of the hospital and working in this initiative, said, “We have been taken sessions of students of each classin their school itself. Sometimes their parents accompany them. Students from primary to Std VI are examined. There are only five per cent students whose oral hygiene was good while the rest had to go through root canal or extraction of teeth or fillings and other treatments which was done for free."
Yadav added, “Students of Std VII to X will be taken for examination once their schools reopen as there are exams of Std XI and X students. Gradually we will conduct the campaign in the schools of other wards of the Cantonment.
Schools covered
- The dental and oral hygiene check has covered St Joseph High School, Saraswati English Medium School, Basant High School, Ghorpadi Village High School and Shahid Bhagat Singh Primary School.
- The hospital conducted a tobacco-free campaign for the parents of these students.
