Article Preview
TopBackground
According to Loh (1996), the School Dental Service in Singapore was established to cater to the high unmet dental needs of school going children in 1949. As the number of dentists in Singapore in the early 1950s was scarce, dental auxiliaries (said to be similar to the type of school dental nurse in New Zealand) were employed to provide primary dental care in the School Dental Service as a cost-effective measure.
In 1971, the introduction of the dental health curriculum to kindergartens in Singapore was made known by a local newspaper report which had carried an announcement for it, in conjunction with a visit by a nutritional advisor from World Health Organisation (WHO) (ST, 1971b). According to the report, kindergarten teachers were then being trained at the Dental Education Unit by the Ministry of Health. It was also mentioned that this came two years after dental education started in primary schools which included compulsory toothbrushing during recess time and the teaching of dental care with visual aid charts.
Later that year, it was confirmed that the compulsory toothbrushing and services of the dental health clinics, including mobile services would be extended to kindergarten children (ST, 1971a). Subsequently, towards the end of 1972, the health minister announced that toothbrushing drills would be introduced to all kindergartens at the beginning of the new term in January, and that the Dental Health Education Unit had completed all preparations, which included the training of all kindergarten teachers for the drills (ST, 1972a).