Free dental checks on Friday

The health ministry announced on Wednesday that its dental services will offer free dental checkups across the republic to mark World Oral Health Day 2022.

Four mobile dental units will be stationed outside the Nicosia, Limassol, Paphos and Famagusta general hospitals this Friday offering free examinations to members of the public, while private dentists will also offer free checkup appointments on the day.

This initiative is part of the ministry’s efforts to raise awareness on the importance of preventative dental examinations as oral diseases, due to their increased prevalence, are a major public health issue with multiple consequences on a medical, social and economic level.

“Especially in middle-aged and elderly people, oral diseases take on universal dimensions,” the ministry said.

Cyprus is no exception, it said, with a recent survey showing that “although there has been an improvement over time in Cypriots’ level of oral health, and the levels of oral diseases are comparable to other developed European countries, unsatisfactory dental care needs are still recorded”.

World Oral Health Day was established by the World Dental Federation and is observed on March 20, with the purpose of highlighting the importance of oral health to overall wellbeing, but also dentists’ responsibility to educate their patients on the prevention as well as the early diagnosis of oral diseases.