Public Health Projects

Prevention of Early Childhood Caries by Educating Community-Health Nurses of the City of Zagreb

Leader of the project:  professor Ivana Čuković-Bagić

The project ‘Prevention of Early Childhood Caries by Educating Community-Health Nurses of the City of Zagreb’ aims to collect data on the knowledge of community nurses on early child caries in order to further educate them. The visiting nurses are often the first health personnel coming into contact with children at the time of the eruption of deciduous teeth, and are the first to identify caries if they are well trained. Their task is also to warn parents of the need to treat caries and refer them to a dentist. Implementation of the project should have an effect on the prevention of dental caries in young children and thus improve their oral health. 

 

Project for oral health promotion in blind and visually impaired persons

Leader of the project: assistant professor Jelena Dumančić dumancic@sfzg.hr

Project for oral health promotion in blind and visually impaired persons has started in 2014 in cooperation with Croatian Blind Union and Zagreb Association of Blind Persons. The project gained financial support of the City of Zagreb. The primary goals are improvement of oral health in visually impaired persons and issuing guidelines for the undergraduate dental education that would enable dental students to treat and accept patients with disabilities.

Project offers dental exams, prophylaxis, preventive procedures and oral hygiene instructions in an individual approach to the users – blind and visually impaired persons. Education on oral health was also organized in the form of public lectures with discussion for the adults and in the form of playschool for children. Eighteen students- volunteers joined the Project team in 2014 and participated in clinical work and also as sighted guides.

With Project activities we have advanced in achieving the goals - the promotion of oral health of blind and visually impaired and inclusion of students in oral health care for persons with disabilities. Participating in the Project, students develop a sense of social responsibility and gain experience and knowledge for their future practice. Ultimately, we expect the Project to result in better dentist - patient relationship and better oral health care for people with disabilities. 

The Project is supported by Colgate Palmolive, Dentatus Sweden and Curaprox

 

The project "Did you brush your teeth today?"

Leader of the project:  professor Hrvoje Jurić

Initiative of School of Dental Medicine, University of Zagreb and his students, in cooperation with the Agency for Education launch the project "Did you brush your teeth today?". The greatest satisfaction of all participants in this project is that this initiative has resulted in the introduction of one hour lesson in regular classes of Health education for children in first grade of primary school. At the same time students going to the school, lecture there and perform their mandatory field course in Pediatric dentistry in the 12th semester of undergraduating program. Therefore, we are very proud of this project, which represents an exceptional value in terms of the spread of accurate information about the prevention of dental caries in early childhood when it acquires the proper habits, all the while being involved our students and about 40,000 children in first grade throughout Croatia.