Toothless nation: Huge backlog of artificial teeth

A massive backlog in consultations for and the making of dentures at the health ministry is largely driven by a shortage of staff and resources. According to a notice posted by the health ministry at the Katutura State Hospital, no new patients requiring dentures can be attended to due to the backlog.Further information on when the process will resume will be communicated to new patients, but no specific date has been provided.Health ministry executive director Ben Nangombe confirmed that the backlog has been ongoing for a considerable period, attributing it to resource constraints and operational challenges.According to Nangombe, there is currently only one chair available for prosthetic patients, severely limiting the hospital&#039;s capacity to handle the volume of patients needing dentures and other prosthetic services.He added that a significant number of patients do not come to collect their completed dentures, despite the manufacturing process taking four to six weeks per product. This leads to a waste of resources and delays in providing services to other patients.Nangombe said the relevant department is currently staffed by only two qualified dental technicians and one specialist, a volunteer from Cuba, to handle artificial teeth."The limited number of skilled professionals is insufficient to meet the high demand," he said.He also explained that the rotation of internal doctors and students on a quarterly basis also affects flow and efficiency. "Regular rotations require that new staff be trained from scratch, which puts a damper on overall productivity and service delivery pace."Plan under consideration In an effort to address the ongoing backlog and challenges, the department has now submitted a comprehensive request for consideration by the ministry for the current financial year.This includes increasing chairs from four to six for maxillofacial surgery, prosthodontics to four chairs, conservative dentistry from six to eight, and for dentistry in the communities, three mobile chairs to increase outreach programmes and service delivery in communities.Regarding personnel, the dentistry department&#039;s request includes four additional dental technicians and three specialists to more effectively distribute the workload."We are confident that the implementation of these proposals will lead to a significant reduction in the backlog and improve the overall efficiency of our prosthetic services,” Nangombe said. - henriette@republikein.com.na

Toothless nation: Huge backlog of artificial teeth

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Namibian Sun 2025-11-05

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Toothless nation: Huge backlog of artificial teeth

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Namibian Sun 2025-11-05

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