Protecting the oral health of the elderly and disabled with Casa-Modal
Since 2018, the Tzu Chi Singapore dental team has been conducting a monthly dental screening and health education programme called Casa-Modal (Clean And Screen All Mouths of Disability facilities And Long-term care facilities) for residents at nursing homes and institutions caring for the mentally disabled. More than 800 people have been screened so far. If extended treatment is found to be required during the process, the patients will be referred to nearby dental clinics for treatment. This programme mainly focuses on screening and preventing dental complications caused by failure to detect oral problems in time, which could affect the overall health of the elderly or those with mental and physical disabilities.
Dentist: We are here to check your teeth, relax.
It took a lot of effort to get the bedridden and demented elderly to open their mouth. The dental screening at Lee Ah Mooi Old Age Home (Silat), lasted for four consecutive days. Although no treatment was performed, the repeating bending and sterilisation work that lasts for about seven hours a day were physically exhausting. But the dental team grasped every single minute, checking as many seniors as they could within the limited time.
Tzu Chi dentist, Dr David Lim : It’s not a dental clinic setting there, the people that we see, sometimes they are in wheelchairs, sometime they are on the bed, sometimes they will move around, then you have to try to bend and see, is physically a bit taxing also.
Lee Ah Moi Nursing Home Administrator, Mr Then : Dental screening is very important for the elderly. After their oral health improves, the chance of hospitalisation due to pneumonia will decrease. We let family members know that Tzu Chi is here to help their loved ones to do dental screenings and clean their mouths. They (family members) are actually very happy.
Since 2018, the Tzu Chi Singapore Dental Team has been conducting a dental screening and health education programme for nursing homes and institutions caring for the mentally handicapped. More than 800 people have now been screened.
Tzu Chi dentist, Dr David Lim: Screening is the key part, because if you don’t know the problem, you don’t know how to solve it. We will use the screening forms to refer to maybe polyclinics, or National Dental Centre, and they have all this information, so dentists will know what to do immediately. If we cannot do even simple dental screening in their homes, around their familiar environment, how are they able to do extractions in foreign (areas) like hospitals？
Dentist: Show us how you brush
In addition to screening, the dentist and his team also provide one-on-one guidance on the correct way to brush their teeth and strengthen their oral hygiene habits.
