Basic Package for Oral Care: A Means to Tackle Community Dental Needs

Abstract

There exists a gaping rift between the available dental services and the need for dental care in communities,
giving rise to the ‘inverse care law’. WHO in collaboration with the University of Nijmegen, worked along
the principles of Primary Health Care (PHC) to give the Basic Package of Oral Care (BPOC) which is
designed to cater to the dental needs of outreach populations within the confines of minimum resources
such as lack of electricity and dental setup, for a maximum effect of providing emergency, preventive and
curative dental care. Implementing BPOC with prudent use of existing PHC workforce, local resources and
collaboration with NGOs could be the best answer to tackling the dental needs of communities.