Abstract
Atraumatic restorative treatment, developed in the mid 1980s, was a milestone in primary oral health care in developing countries. In 2001, the basic package of oral care was implemented in Gambia (West Africa) by training nurses to become community oral health workers. It was therefore the aim of this study to evaluate the processes of the operative units of this programme. The study was conducted in the form of a visitation, an employee attitude survey, and an analysis of the medical records. The evaluation revealed a continuous oral health care by competent community oral health workers in 5 out of 8 units. The patient catchment area considerably exceeded the village limits. Predominantly, pain therapy as a result of dental caries was administered with a restoration-extraction ratio of 1:10. Within a 12-month period, 5,524 patients of all ages were treated. The dental supply rate was 35%. Health care delivery in a primary oral health-care programme in the Repubilc of Gambia with community oral health workers was rated successfully. There is room for improvement in the organisational supervision of the operative units. The curriculum of future trainings should be adapted to changing epidemiological trends.
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