Islamic Society Provides Free Dental & Optical Care For Nearly 300 Indigent Residents

Onyeche Onimisi, Abuja

At the end of its 2-day medical outreach, the Al-Habibiyyah Islamic Society (AIS) in collaboration with Whitestone Dental Initiative (WDI) offered free dental and optical services to nearly 300  indigent residents of a suburb in Abuja the Nigerian capital.

The Director of the Whitestone Dental Initiative Dr. Pamela Macpherson said the dental care covered all dental procedures including tooth extraction and provision of denture for those who required them. She added that the optical care also provided diagnosis and treatment for different eye problems, while a few requiring reading glasses also got them.

Dr Pamela said part of the services being provided include: Denture delivery, diagnosis, scaling and polishing, dental filling, extraction, minor surgeries for Dental treatment, as well as Automated eye care service , frames, contact lenses, glaucoma screening for Optical treatment”

Dr. Macpherson Pamela said the initiative is to create awareness on the need for people to take oral and dental health more seriously

“Many have myopic views about dental care, such that when people have dental diseases, they result to short cuts of ‘touch and go’ and the problem return and become aggravated. We have reached many places and the impression of the people is that few people would have dental issues, until we begin and the numbers of people requiring dental care would be surprising. It is important for the people to prioritise dental since the mouth is the major source where other liquid or solid materials passed into the body”, she said.

The Director of the society, Imam Fuad Adeyemi also said the society partnered with the Whitestone Dental Initiative  to provide care for residents in Guzape, Kpaduma, Kobi the communities close to the Society’s mosque  in continuation of their humanitarian works as enjoined by Allah for muslims to take care of  their neighbours.

“We also discover that many Nigerians don’t care about their dental health such that many don’t know how to take care our dental health and it is one of the important aspects of our lives such that Prophet Muhammad said he would have directed Muslims to be brushing their mouths five times daily. Secondly, we decide to create awareness and solve the problem at the same time. We are going to improve on this outreach and this would be taken to other states too,” Adeyemi said.

Among those who received dental care was a woman in her late 60s whose 10 teeth were removed, and artificial denture provided to replace the teeth.

Another Participant Isah Yakubu expressed his appreciation for the Dental and Optical Care they got from Al-Habibiya and pray for more of this kind of outreach.