the kingdom of tonga presenter sione halahala sitaniselao kisina
TRANSCRIPT
Introduction• Tonga is the only remaining kingdom
in the South Pacific
• It consist of 150 small islands, which are scattered between 15 and 23 degrees south latitude and 173 and 177 degrees west longitude
• Tonga is divided into 3 main island group namely, Tongatapu, Vavau, and Haapai
• The total area of the group is 748sq km (269 square miles)
Tonga consist of 150 islands which are volcanic and coral
• Only 36 islands are inhabited
• Population is just above 100,000• The native people of the groups are
Polynesians with our own native tongue
• (Tongan)
Organizational structure
Minister of Health
Director of Health
Chief Dental Officer
Pharmacological Division
Dental OfficerDental Division
Medical Division
Laboratory Technical Division
Nursing Division
Public Health Division
Preventive Health Planning Division
Acting Director of Health
●Vaiola Hospital (Tongatapu) ●Prince Wellington Ngu Hospital (Vava’u)
●Niu’ui Hospital (Ha’apai- SDTh]
●Niu’eiki Hospital (‘Eua-DTh]
●Likamonu Hospital- NTT-DTh
●Tu’akifalelei Hospital (Niuafo’ou-DTh]
Ministry of Health of Kingdom of Tonga
Staff • There are 7 Dentist and 1 volunteer dentist
(JICA) with a dentist to population ratio of about 1:14,000.
• 11 dental therapist and 6 therapist trainee • The population to working dental personnel
is about 1:4000• We also have a sterilizing officer and 2
receptionist.
Disease prevalence• Dental caries and periodontal disease
are the 2 major dental disease that affects the group
• With changing lifestyle and diet Tonga has a very high caries rate
• dmft is about 4 -1986• There has been no national survey to
confirm the dmft of 6yr old children, but records shows a very high caries rate
407 students in class 1 in all Vava’u Primary schools, 2007
Average age: 5y 7m-Dr Fujise
5% Only 20 students
95%
Healthy teethDecayed teeth
Prevalence rate of dental caries: 95%
An example case in the theater at the Hospital
5 years-old girl lost 12/20 teeth because of sever tooth decays and pain
She has no pain anymore but it will take many years to get next new adult teeth after that operation
2007 2006 2005 2004 2003
No of pts seen 35247 33735 38759 51538 47180
No of teeth removed 22032 20456 19815 25607 36719
caries 15690 13738 14140 16194 20956
Perio 5443 5222 4905 3675 15763
Others 899
Extract from Ministry of Health Annual Report 2007
Job description• We provide general dental services
and oral surgery as the only specialized field.
• In our preventive service we provide fluoride rinsing, fissure sealant of 1st perm molar and tooth brushing.
• This fluoride rinsing is funded by the South Pacific Medical Team in Japan
• This aid had also provided 3 vehicles to carry out the fluoride rinsing to all the schools in the 3 major island groups
• There is also a caravan in the main island that provides fissure sealants of 1st permanent molars of students of about 6 years of age
Plan• The department us fully committed to
the fluoride rinsing program and is planning to set funds for this program as this is the only way to combat this disaster
• We are also liaising with the Ministry of education to include oral health in the school curricullum
• To educate people about the importance of oral health
Shortcoming• As always with third world countries
there is always the shortage of funds• There is also shortage of manpower• There is also the concern about
lifestyle diseases and peoples awareness of their oral health