Our problem is that dentists are still concentrated in big cities
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Limited access to dental and oral health services is one of the obstacles to people getting treated, Chairman of the executive board of the Indonesian Dentists Association (PB PDGI) Dr. Usman Sumantri M.Sc., has said.

According to the Basic Health Research Data (Riskesdas), 57.6 percent of the Indonesian population experienced dental and oral problems in 2018, but only about 10.2 percent had access to dental health services.



Sumantri, at a virtual press conference accessed here on Tuesday, said that currently, the number of active dentists in PDGI is around 28,630, with one doctor serving approximately 9,600 people.



According to him, this is almost adequate, but still below the WHO-recommended ratio of 1:7,500.

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"Our problem is that dentists are still concentrated in big cities," he pointed out.



He said that at the district level in certain areas, the number of dentists is still low, especially in sub-districts. Supporting facilities and infrastructure for health workers are still inadequate, he added.



Teledentistry or telecommunication consultation with dentists could become one of the solutions to overcome problems related to access to dentists, he said.


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Therefore, the PDGI, in collaboration with Unilever Indonesia (Pepsodent) and the FDI World Dental Federation, will provide free teledentistry services for the community. Through this collaboration, later, thousands of dentists from 100 branches of the PDGI will participate in providing teledentistry services.



In addition to teledentistry, 23 branches of the PDGI will also provide education and treatment for the community.



"In my opinion, teledentistry is very useful because (considering) the problem of the pandemic, (particularly) access problems, and this is free," Sumantri remarked.


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Translator: Rizka Khaerunnisa, Raka Adji
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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