Ugandan doctor wins award for embracing technology

By Taddeo Bwambale

A Ugandan medical doctor has attained global certification for embracing technology in provision of health services to patients.

Dr Tom Mutyabule, a dental surgeon was last week recognised by the international society of computerized dentistry (ISCD) for pioneering a fast-healing procedure in dental healthcare.

He is credited for introducing cerec technology in dental healthcare, a computer-aided process that allows dentists to construct, produce, and insert individual restorations of affected teeth.

The procedure is done in a single appointment, rather than over multiple appointments with a dentist. Its first application was carried out on patients in 1985.

He becomes the first dentist in East Africa to get accreditation into prestigious society of about 2000 dentists working with new technologies in their practice in thirty countries across the globe.

Mutyabule, the proprietor of Pan Dental Surgery, attained the certification at a ceremony held in Cape Town, South Africa last week.

ISCD is an international body that governs all practitioners and trainers of computerized dentistry worldwide.

The new technology deals with restoration of broken and lost teeth and involves innovative techniques in producing artificial crowns that work like natural teeth.

The procedure allows people with dental problems to have normal bites, with permanent fixing, same texture, tone and color to bone thickness and hardness of ordinary teeth.

Mutyabule will train other dentists in the technology in order to make dental services easy and accessible in Uganda while reducing time for replacement of broken and lost teeth.

More than 51% of Ugandans have suffered from dental diseases, according to a 2013 Ministry of Health Baseline Survey conducted in 10 ten districts.

Of those affected (76% of children under the age of five and 93% of adults) suffer from tooth decay, the survey reveals.

Tooth decay accounts for 71% of the affected population while bad breath accounts for 43% of the cases. Other dental problems are gum disease, facial trauma and oral cancers.

Uganda has only 200 dentists (degree holders) serving a population of 35 million, implying there is one dentist per 175,000 people. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends one dentist per 7,500 people.