As part of its budget for the current fiscal year 1434/1435H, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has approved the establishment of six new specialized dental centers in a number of the Kingdom’s regions with a total cost of SR 460 million.
This was pointed out by Dr. Muhammad Al-Rafei, the Director-General of Dentistry, noting that MOH has approved six new specialized centers in the Holy Capital (Makkah), Al-Ahsa, Samtah, Taif, Qatif and Al-Kharj, within its budget of this year, with a total capacity of 430 clinics.
“These centers are to be outstanding therapeutic addition. The highest standards of the global health have been observed and applied in designing and establishing these centers. Besides, these centers will alleviate the pressure on many existing specialized centers in the Kingdom's regions, as well as easing the patient's suffering while moving from one area to another,” said Dr. Al-Rafei.
He went on adding that the approval of such specialized dental centers is part of MOH plans to distribute dental services throughout the major cities and governorates in different regions, with an endeavor to upgrade and improve the healthcare and the general level of dentistry all over the Kingdom, and comes within the framework of the National Project for the Integrated and Comprehensive Health Care. Besides, Dr. Al-Rafei has indicated that this expansion has been accompanied by an increase in the capacity of the existing specialized dental centers, which have been reinforced with specialized cadres, as well as the expansion of the training centers for the different specialized dental programs which are supervised by the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties (SCHS); so as to increase the number of Saudi cadres specialized in the dentistry domain.
In the same vein, Dr. Al-Rafei has underscored that the dentistry domain is witnessing a paradigm shift in all its therapeutic and cosmetic services, especially in the advanced and modern techniques and methods of treatment, which leads the officials in the health sector to keep pace with this progress; in order to provide the best services needed by the patients and which accrue to them by the best results, through providing the proper, successful and high quality treatment according to MOH strategic plan.
On the other hand, Dr. Al-Rafei has noted that MOH is currently providing its curative and preventive services for citizens in the field of oral and dental medicine and surgery through 2506 dental clinics in the health facilities and hospitals across most of the Kingdom's territory, including 280 clinics which have been recently established in 1433H within the health facilities and hospitals with a growth rate of 12.57%.
Dr. Al-Rafei kept on adding that the specialized dental centers which have been previously approved and still under construction or those which are about to be established, whether in some MOH hospitals or in some of the Kingdom’s cities and provinces, comprise the establishment of two dental centers; one of them in King Saud Medical City (KSMC) in Riyadh with a total capacity of 200 clinics, and the other in the east of Riyadh with a capacity of 100 clinics. That is to be added to two other dental centers; one of them in the south of Jeddah and another in the north of it, as well as establishing other several dental centers in Madina, Al-Baha, Qassim, Hail, Jazan, Hafr Al-Batin, Bisha, Dammam, Najran, Sakaka, Tabuk, and Al-Qunfudah.
Furthermore, Dr. Al-Rafei has mentioned that MOH latest statistics indicate that the total number of the visits to the dental centers during the past year 1433H, has mounted to 1,303,981 visits. In addition, Riyadh came as the most areas in which surgeries of jaw and teeth have been conducted by 22.7% of the overall jaw and dental surgeries in all hospitals. It is followed by Makkah, Al-Ahsa and Asir, then Taif and Jeddah. The visits have been conducted to the examination rooms, the treatments of the oral and gum diseases, simple oral surgeries, teeth extractions, maxillofacial and oral surgeries, orthodontics, nerve treatment, endodontics, prosthodontics, radiology, because of the significant increase in the clinics of hospitals, health facilities and specialized dental centers.
Over and above, Dr. Al-Rafei expounded that, for every 100 thousand of the population, there is an average of 35.1 dentists working in the Kingdom's hospitals of the public and private sector and the private clinics, (i.e. 1 dentist per 2850 persons).
It is noteworthy that MOH Executive Board has approved, in its last meeting under the chairmanship of His Excellency the Minister of Health, Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Rabeeah, providing the supplies and consumables of the therapeutic dental implants and orthodontics in MOH specialized dental centers.
A list of the specialized dental centers approved by MOH within its budget of the fiscal year 1434/1435 H:
1- The Specialized Dental Center in the Holy Capital “Makkah” (100 clinics)
2- The Specialized Dental Center in Al-Ahsa (30 clinics)
3- The Specialized Dental Center in Samtah (100 clinics)
4- The Specialized Dental Center in Taif (50 clinics)
5- The Specialized Dental Center in Al-Kharj (50 clinics)