ASL ROMA F, oral health education project started in prisons

An initiative strongly advocated by the determination of the General Director of the ASL ROMA F Dr. Giuseppe Quintavalle , and by the Directors of the Penitentiary Institutions of Civitavecchia, Dr. Giuseppe Quintavalle and Dr. Giuseppe Quintavalle.ssa Patrizia Bravetti and dr.ssa Rosella Santoro, has enabled the’activation of the primary prevention project “Beyond Smile to Prevention,” thus joining an experience of the “Best Practice” type already launched in the Emilia Romagna Region, which has yielded great results there.

It is a multi-step project with distinct goals for an overall result.

First among the objectives is the creation and subsequent preparation of a team that has the right sensitivity to hygiene maneuvers and oral health education through the training of Cargivers, who need not necessarily be professionals in the field, but also classic practitioners such as Prison Police, Professional Nurses, Health Care Workers , Volunteers, Armchair Attendants, General Practitioners and Medical Specialists.

Another important goal is to raise the awareness of inmates on the importance of proper oral hygiene, also to prevent more serious infectious diseases, and to move from the exercise of dental care in emergency-urgency to a personal “smile” need with ‘natural’ propensity to any requests for specific care.

Therefore, inmates , starting right from their environment and their daily routine, with a simple toothbrush and toothpaste, can come to the outpatient clinic with a mouth already sanitized and in good condition. Throughout, the dentist and dental hygienist act as coordinators for all possible therapies.

“As usual – commented Dr. Quintavalle – it is only right to thank the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Civitavecchia, for the great sensitivity shown in wanting to promote the primary dental prevention project “Beyond, Smile at Prevention,” and for supporting it financially for the concrete implementation. Thanks are also due to a number of companies in the sector for providing educational and dissemination materials and various toothpaste and toothbrush kits that will be delivered to each of the 700 inmates currently in the institutions.”