Dental Service Provided by the Four Community Hospitals in the High Risk Areas of Songkhla Province during the Unrest Situation of the Deep South.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare the dental services provided by the four community hospitals located in the high risk areas of Songkhla provinces (Thepa Hospital, Chana Hospital, Sabayoi Hospital, and Somdejpraboromrachineenart Natawee Hospital.). The secondary data were obtained and the dental personnel in the 4 hospitals were interviewed and asked to answer the questionnaires. The data in 2005 were interpreted as the information at the beginning of the unrest situation in the Deep South and the data in 2007 (October - December 2007) were interpreted as the information during the situation.

The results showed that the number of new patients in all hospitals except Chana Hospital were decreased. In contrast, the numbers of old patients in all 4 hospitals were increased which the increased rate was highest in Chana Hospital and lowest in Thepa Hospital. At all, the coverage of the population was slightly decreased. The most dental services provided to the general population (all except 6-12 years old) were extraction, filling and scaling which had not changed since the beginning of the situation. Oppositely, the dental services provided to the school children (6-12 years old) had changed and were different among the 4 hospitals because of the self-adjustment of each hospital. Concerning the dental services in the mobile unit, the most dental service provided to the general population besides oral examination was extraction which was the same in all 4 hospitals. However, the dental services provided to the school children (6-12 years old) were totally different because some hospitals stopped providing dental services in the mobile units due to the unrest situation.