The Bureau of Dental Health's history
In the beginning, the sanitary division of schools under the Ministry of Public Instruction was responsible for delivering dental public health services. Up until 1923, it was in charge of offering dental care to students. However, when the Thai Red Cross Society requested assistance, it also started offering services to the general public. After the establishment of the Ministry of Public Health in 1942, dental work was administered by the School Health Division of the Ministry of Public Health (or Department of Health in later periods). When the Ministry of Public Health renovated its government department in 1972, dental work was elevated to the Bureau of Dental Health within the Department of Medical Service and Health. Until 1974, when the administrative organization of the Ministry of Public Health was improved once again, the Bureau of Dental Health was transferred to the Department of Health.
Public Dental Health Program
The dental public health program was originally incorporated into the National Economic and Social Development Plan in 1977–1981, or in the fourth plan forward. Activities and projects at that stage are providing dental services to students and government officials from the Ministry of Public Health; training dental assistants and health workers; delivering preventive dental services to primary school students in Bangkok by overseeing brushing after lunch and providing fluoride solution every two weeks; and providing dental health education services to students. Additionally, it has cooperated with the School Health Division to set up training for executive-level and operational health officers, as well as school principals and health teachers, to operate dental health in communities and schools in 72 provinces around the nation.
Outstanding public-benefiting works
In the long run, dentists will be distributed to rural areas by being stationed in hospitals and provincial public health offices. The provincial public health committee was formed, with the provincial public health doctor as chairman, the heads of various departments as committee members, and the dental public health department as secretary. This enables dental public health services to be systematically organized in terms of promotion, prevention, and treatment. Furthermore, rather than having to order from abroad, various tooth models are produced using locally available materials, saving the country approximately ten million Baht. The Department of Health can also provide support for these dental models to the dental public health departments of all district hospitals, primary schools, and agencies that support dental health operations across the country. As a result, even in remote areas, the media benefits a large number of people. The Department of Health's dental health work has been developed since the Fourth Development Plan in order to focus on solving the dental public health problems of Thai people of all ages. Previous significant works include:
1. Setting up dental health goals: In 1985, the Federation of Dental Associations from around the world came together to establish global dental health goals. Therefore, the Department of Health organized a seminar for a group of dental public health experts from across the country to develop dental health goals appropriate for Thais. Such goals are regarded as the main ideas for addressing the country's dental public health issues in the future. The goals that have been defined are
1) 30 percent of preschoolers must be cavity-free.
2) Children under the age of 12 have no more than 1.5 teeth per person.
3) 75 percent of 18-year-olds must have at least 28 functional teeth.
2. Mobile dental unit service: On August 1, 1984, a mobile dental unit was founded as a result of cooperation between the Thai and German governments, providing dental fillings, scaling, tooth extraction, and dental health education to people in the Thai-Cambodian border area in Ubon-Ratchathani, Sisaket, and Surin. The Department of Health has launched a service aimed at 4800 villages, with 96,000 people receiving services and 480,000 receiving dental health knowledge. In 1988, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education collaborated to develop a project to monitor and promote dental health among primary school students in the country. Until now, this service has served 5 million primary school students in 30,000 schools across the country. The project's main activities have been delegated to teachers who have been trained to examine students' oral health and record it in the report. The health station staff will collect information, provide advice, and treat student patients in accordance with their training.
3. Training project for health station staff to provide teeth scaling service: The Department of Health encourages health stations to provide dental services, beginning with all health centers in the Isan Green project's 17 Northeast provinces. Subsequently, support has now been extended to cover 4,000 health centers. Public health workers at the health station with an ultrasonic scaler will be trained to use the device to provide treatment.
4. Outstanding School of Oral Health Surveillance Contest Project: The Department of Health, in collaboration with the Office of the National Primary Education Commission, the Provincial Public Health Office, and the private sector, Colgate Palmolive (Thailand) Co., Ltd., has developed such a project to encourage surveillance and promotion of complete systematic oral health care in primary schools. Furthermore, an outstanding school will serve as a good role model for other schools, encouraging people and related parties to have positive attitudes and work together to solve community dental health problems. Outstanding school qualifications include teachers checking students' oral health twice a year and recording the results of the examination; students receiving dental services, brushing their teeth after lunch every day, regularly rinsing fluoride mouthwash and being referred to a medical facility for treatment if problems arise. The national champion school will receive a royal trophy from Princess Srinagarindra, 30,000 baht in prize money, and a permanent award label.
5. Surveillance and dental health promotion project for school children under the municipality and Pattaya City: Beginning in B.E. 1993, the Department of Health collaborated with the Department of Administrative Affairs to develop a project that received enthusiastic support from the Office of Local Education Administration, the Office of Local Government Administration, the Education Alderman, dentists, and dental health officers from 50 municipalities, and it now covers 400 schools. 1994 has been designated as World Dental Health Year by the World Health Organization. In accordance with the World Health Organization's announcement, the Department of Health has established a campaign year project with the goal of encouraging people to practice correct and consistent brushing behavior every day. Throughout the year, the Department of Health has organized activities in both central and provincial areas, such as campaigning for dental public health nationwide by promoting brushing teeth after lunch at the same time across the country on September 14, 1994, and organizing an international conference titled "The Promotion of Lifestyles Conducive to Oral Health."