Abstract
Since 1989, we have taken part in an international cooperative effort in the field of dental health care in the Kingdom of Nepal. From 1994 to 1997, a training project to train professional staff for oral health care was carried out with the local leaders of the village community. This training was held once a year for seven days. During this time 46 persons graduated from the program. They consisted of 21 primary school teachers, 9 counter-parts, 11 health workers, and 4 committee members. The subjects of the training sessions were dental medicine, diagnosis and pathology of dental cavities and periodontal disease, theory and practice for plaque control and nutrition guidance for eating and dental health.
The results of the evaluations of these programs by the students were as follows : (1) 75% of the graduates reported that they could understand the programs. As far as the amounts of lectures and practice, 66.6% of the graduates respond favorably. (2) Graduates wanted to do the following activities after graduation : brushion 100%, scaling 66.6%, oral examination 41.6% and nutrition guidance 33.3%. As for a suitable place to receive this instruction, preferences were as follows : at the health post 75%, in a local house 50%. (3) To promote students understanding and motivation for health activities in their own community, this training program was very successful, that combined both theory and practice. (4) This project was very successful in the area of promoting oral health activities in a developing country through training teachers as health workers and introducing the oral health education into the schools.
