Dental services get big boost |17 November 2014

As of early next year two newly commissioned dental caravans will be in operation and they are expected to reduce pressure on the school dental services in the town area.

One of the caravans will be stationed at Plaisance primary school while the other will be based at the Ile Perseverance primary school.

In a short ceremony in the car park of the Seychelles Hospital on Friday morning, Richard Quayle, the director of Quayle Dental, a London-based company which has designed and custom-made the caravans, handed them over to the Oral health Directorate of the Health Care Agency.

They have cost around £69,000 each and Mr Quayle is here to ensure everything is in place before the two caravans start operation hopefully early next year.

Mr Quayle said the caravans have been designed to be self-contained dental surgeries with modern and state of the art equipment which could be easily transported wherever they are needed.

‘’They have their own power generators, clean and waste water tanks for all dental procedures and they are a great and significant investment for the Ministry of Health,” Mr Quayle said.

They can each accommodate a dentist/therapist and an assistant at one time tending to a patient at a time. It also has a cushioned and sheltered waiting area.

Wix Cupidon, chief dental officer, said there was a need for such facilities.

“Plaisance and Ile Perseverance primary schools will now get their own dental clinics,” Mr Cupidon said.

He noted that pupils from Ile Perseverance were going to English River, piling pressure on the service there which has become saturated.

“The new caravan will cater for primary and pre-school age children of Ile Perseverance,” said Mr Cupidon.

As for the one to be stationed at Plaisance, it is expected to considerably reduce pressure on the services being provided at Les Mamelles.

Mr Cupidon noted that both primary and secondary pupils from Plaisance would benefit from the service as well as pupils from the School for the Exceptional Child situated close by.

“The caravans are equipped with remote control rumps which will enable easy access to the service by wheel chair bound pupils,” Mr Cupidon pointed out.

It is also expected that the new service will enable the children of the two above-mentioned schools to receive dental services without having to leave the school premises, minimising disruption to their studies and offering good follow up of their oral health needs.