Charles Gordon Market gets dental facility

The Montego Bay-based International Postgraduate Medical College (IPMC) has established a state-of-the-art dental centre at the Charles Gordon Market in the tourist capital.

"Because of financial constraints, many persons are not able to address common dental concerns, which would greatly improve the quality of their lives," said Dr Christopher Ogunsalu, senior lecturer in anatomy in the Department of Basic Medical Sciences at the University of the West Indies and one of the driving forces behind the IPMC. "We want to make a difference for these people."

The new facility, which will operate under the name the Caribbean Centre for Oral Diseases, was officially opened last Monday by Ambassador Janet Olisa, the new Nigerian high commissioner to Jamaica. Ogunsalu is a naturalised Jamaican. Ogunsalu said that persons without insurance coverage who suffered serious facial injuries in accidents, who would normally be sent to Kingston because of the inadequacies at the Cornwall Regional Hospital, will not only be treated at the centre, but their treatment will be free of cost.

EMERGENCY CARE

"Also, all the patients with dental emergencies presenting as pain will be treated without initial monetary considerations," said Ogunsalu. "All other surgical procedures will be done at 50 per cent."

The list of services the centres will also offers include dental extractions, surgical extractions of teeth, gum surgery, and tumour surgery.

"If the Government of Jamaica is not able to provide free dental treatment, then the private dental sector should be able to bridge the gap," said Ogunsalu. "This is what the IPMC is trying to do. We think that the facilities at most Government centres in St James are inadequate, not only in terms of equipment and infrastructure, but in terms of dental specialists. Standard treatment will always be the key."

The centre currently has two dental chairs, a recovery area, and a suturing room with the necessary monitoring equipment.