Local dentists warn public to beware of impersonators

By George Mangula

The Uganda Dental Association (UDA) has come out to warn the public about the existence impersonators who treat patients as if they were trained to do that job.

Dr Ayub Twaha, the President of UDA while addressing the media in Kampala on Wednesday said there is an increase in cases of impersonating health professionals including dental surgeons.

“All our members are registered by the Medical and Dental Practitioners Council, and it’s a requirement by law that each doctor displays his/her annual practice licence clearly wherever they work,” Dr. Twaha said.

He urged the public to desist from getting dental services from facilities that don’t have identifications of their doctors and do not display valid practicing licences.   “We will soon produce a portal through which each member of the public can crosscheck if a doctor working on them is registered and licensed to practice,” he said.

The official has on the other hand appealed to government to invest in oral health and research and that all dental health facilities move away from tooth extraction service to restoring hope and smiles in their patients. He urged dentists to avoid rudeness as they serve and instead offer quality services.

The doctor further urged the public to be careful with traditional method of removing ‘false teeth’ from children (dental tissue mutilation), saying if done badly has the potential to disorganize a person’s dental formula.

He also urged expectant mothers to seek dental care, saying that there is nothing wrong with it. There has been a misconception that expectant mothers should seek dental care, interestingly sometimes from midwives and medical doctors,” he said, adding that expectant mothers are required to visit dental clinics two times during their pregnancy.

He said improving and maintaining optimal oral health requires one to; brush teeth at least twice a day, youth good tooth brush and fluoride paste, reduce the sugar intake in all its forms, eat lots of fruits and minerals as well as visiting dentists.

On smoking, he said it affects the teeth and urged that citizens to quit smoking. Additionally he said gum diseases increase risk of heart problems as well as miscarriages of fetus in some instances.

Meanwhile UDA is preparing for for its Annual General Meeting and Scientific Conference to take place in Kampala from November 8-10, 2018. The event will be held under the theme: “Dentistry: Past, Present and Future”. UDA has had its membership grow from 4 in 1960s to 320 today, serving the Ugandan population.