University Health Science
Faculty of Odonto-Stomatology

Organization of International
Support for Dental Education
	
  

	
  

Student Experience Tour in Rural Area
(SETRA)	
  Content

1. Message from Dean (Prof. IM Puthavy)……………………… 2

2. Introduction of SETRA (Prof. Vorn Vutha, Prof. Uy Sophorn) …… 3

3. Report of SETRA Activities, Sre Y village, Mondulkiri (Prof. Vorn Vutha)……………………… 6
4. My Experience from SETRA Project in Mondulkiri Province (Chroeung
Kanitha)……………………… 9

5. Report from SETRA Mondulkiri Mission (San Daneth)………… 12

6. Patients’ satisfaction and students’ impression for SETRA in Mondulkiri
province (Lim Ratanak)……………………… 16

1	
  
	
  

	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
 Message	  	  	  from	  	  Dean
	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
 
Professor IM Puthavy
Dean of Faculty of Odonto-Stomatology University of
Health Sciences, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude and sincere thank to
Organization of International Support for Dental Education (OISDE), Japan and Ladies andGentlemen who spare time to read this booklet informing about the activities of Student
Experience Tour for Rural Area (SETRA) which has been conducted Faculty of OdontoStomatology, University of Health Sciences (UHS), Phnom Penh, Cambodia, sponsored by
OISDE.
The aims of this booklet are:
1. To inform about the background of SETRA
2. To inform about the result of the study on the problem of oral diseases, that was
conducted by staff of UHS and students during SETRA
3. To enhance the awareness of SETRA at UHS and address the future plan of SETRA
SETRA has developed and has taken actions against oral disease in rural area in
Cambodia because people in rural area have difficulty to access oral healthcare due to huge
obstacles such as living in remote area, low income and education and the shortage of humanresource including dentists and dental nurses.
Furthermore, SETRA has provided dental students with important experiences so thatthey can use their experience to improve their knowledge, skills and attitude and to contribute to
reduction of the oral health problem in Cambodia.
On behalf of UHS, I would like to express my heartfelt thank to OISDE, Professor
Takashi Miyata, Director of OISDE, Ladies and Gentlemen who read this booklet.
At the end May I extend my best wishes to all of you.

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Introduction of SETRA
Professor Vorn Vutha and Uy Sophorn
Faculty of Odonto-Stomatology University of Health
Sciences, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

I.

Background

The Student Experience Tour for Rural Area (SETRA) has been implemented, being
supported by Organization of International Support for Dental Education (OISDE) since
December 2009 after signing memorandum of understanding between Faculty of OdontoStomatology, University Health Science (UHS) and OISDE.
With reference to OISDE’s survey, UHS and OISDE had agreed to choose Mondulkiri as main
target area because the province was the least developed one among the others, had poor
infrastructure and lack of financial and human resource. Villagers not just only suffered fromtropical infectious disease such as Malaria, typhoid fever and diarrhea, but also suffered fromoral disease like decay, periodontitis, oral cancer and mastication disorder.
In terms of dental students, UHS expected students to obtain much experience, which
they could not receive during their usual practical practice in UHS hospital, through the SETRA.
A year implementing the project for Mondulkiri, although public health condition in
Cambodia was improved, some health condition such as infection and oral disease were stillconcerning factors for people living in rural area not just in Mondulkiri. UHS had made new
proposal to extend the project one year more in order to distribute treatment and education formany provinces such as Mondulkiri, Pursat, Shihanouk Ville, Ratanakiri, Kampong Thom andBattambang.
	
  

II.

Overall goal

Our goal is to reduce poverty of villagers by providing dental treatment for free, and to
draw governmental institutions as Ministry of Health or UHS attention to dental status ofvillagers and to persuade these institutions to distribute budget to sustain this project.
Furthermore, we expect dental students to start considering to allocate their knowledge and skills
to the rural community rather than to Phnom Penh after graduating from UHS.
3	
  
	
  

III.
•
•

Project purpose
To promote oral health situation and provide dental treatment to people in rural area
To help UHS students to build up their capacity such as knowledge, practical skill andsurvey and observation skills through this project

IV.

Project outline

Period:May 2011- May 2012

Target area:

Mondulkiri province (4), Pursat, Shihanouk Ville, Ratanakiri,
Kampong Thom and Battambang

Beneficiaries :V.

Dental students in UHS and population in rural area

Outcome
The place where SETRA
was implemented

Number of participantsContents of treatment

Date

Village name

Province nameInstructor

Students

Villager

Extraction

Scaling

Filling

May 25th-27th,
2011

Pou Loung

Mondulkiri

6

14

85

87

81

35

Jul 29th -01st ,2011

Pursat

Bakan

6

16

138

156

136

35

Aug16th -18th,
2011

Pou Taing

Mondulkiri

6

14

95

107

89

31

Oct 16th -18th,
2011

Stung Hav

Shihanoukville

6

14

160

107

202

49

Dec 29th -31st ,2011

BorkeoRatanakiri

6

20

125

98

95

25

Feb 08th -10th ,
2012

Krava

Kampong Thom

6

14

120

85

102

25

Mar 25th -27th ,
2012

Sre Y

Mondulkiri

6

14

40

40

30

20

Apr 09th -11th ,2012

Sang Ke

Battambang

6

14

188

65

185

35

May 23th -25th ,2012

Pou Loung

Mondulkiri

6

18

48

48

40

20

	
  
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VI.

Future vision
	
  

•
•

Make proposal to UHS to obtain budget for SETRA in order to sustain this project by
UHS without budget support by OISDE in the future.
Ask previous post graduate students to donate some budget for continuing this project.
	  VII. Acknowledgement
The special thank to our helpful colleague of UHS, and the supervision and support that it
gave truly help the progression and smoothness of the program. The cooperation is much indeed
appreciated.
My grateful thanks also go to our counterpart, OISDE, which has contributed, hard worked andbeen patient in helping us complete this program.
The whole project activities really brought us together to appreciate the true value of friendshipand respect of each other.

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Report of SETRA Activities in Sre Y village, Senmonorom
District, Mondulkiri, 24th to 26th March 2012
Professor Vorn Vutha
Faculty of Odonto-Stomatology University of Health Sciences,
Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
	
  

I.

Background of Sre Y village

Sre Y village is around 25 kilometers long from Senmonorom town. The number ofpermanent resident is 547 (120 householders). The internet connection is partly covered at thisvillage. Although most of villagers are minority, they can understand and speak Khmer language.
Their basic income depends on selling honey bee, cashew bar and vegetable.
As for primary school in the village, there is one school which consists of 86 students from grade
1 to 6 and one school director and two school teachers. The school is made by one woodenbuilding with two classrooms and one library. That is why each three grade 1, 2 & 3 and 4, 5 &6
has to study in one classroom. All students can obtain water from open well in the school.
There is only one health post in this village. It is really hard for the villagers to seek for dental
health services because there is neither dental nurse nor dentist in the health post. Thus, they can
only receive traditional medicine by the health post. Furthermore, villagers are reluctant to visit
the referral hospital in the Senmonorom town. One of the reasons is that they have to pay muchmoney to receive dental treatment. The other reason is that especially elderly people still believe
to use traditional treatment rather than modern medical care. In addition, villagers can access the
hospital only in the dry season because of the road condition.

In terms of oral health behavior, some villagers have toothbrush and toothpaste at their house.
There are two glossary shops in the middle of the village where they can get toothbrush with2,000 riel ($0.50) and 25 g toothpaste with 2,500 riel ($0.625) in price. 	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
 
Based on real aspect of the village background such as oral health problems, religion andbeliefs condition, geographical location, the needs of villagers and authority, and accessibility to
the health sector, UHS, OIDSE and local authority (Provincial Health Department officer and adentist in the referral hospital) decided to implement SETRA project in Sre Y village, 24th to 26th
March, 2012.

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II.

Objectives of SETRA in Sre Y village

For Villagers:
SETRA tried to provide the villagers with oral health education, prevention and dental
treatments (scaling, filling and extraction) in order to make villagers relieve from oral disease.
Especially education was expected to change villagers’ incorrect belief for dental field.
For Students:	  	  The most important objective for students was to improve their capacity through learning,practicing and obtaining experiences in the village where the life style and the environment wasquite different from Phnom Penh and other province conditions.
For UHS:
According to the shortages of the number of cases in the UHS hospital, UHS intended tosecure the number of cases for dental students. Additionally, UHS tried to develop and progresshuman resources of the faculty through this mission.

III.

SETRA Activities in Sre Y village

Under the management and leadership of UHS dental team, students and doctors weredivided into several groups. Group1 focused on oral health education. This group member
advised villagers how to take medicine, educated them how to brush their teeth properly. Group
2 focused on dental screening (dental survey, diagnosis). Group 3 provided dental treatment(scaling, filling and	
   simple extraction). Additionally, there was observer group which had tomonitor and to supervise all steps of the SETRA activity.
After implementing for 3 days in SETRA project, over 70 villagers received dental
treatment and education:•

72 people received the oral health education•

62 people received dental scaling•

52 teeth were extracted•

10 teeth were filled

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Through this project, students could•

Describe the tradition, culture and religion of minority living in Sre Y village•

Experience many types of oral diseases•

Explore their knowledge and skill in dental treatment and dental survey•

Share experiences together

Furthermore, UHS could obtain many patients for students, and could develop andprogress human resources of the faculty through this project.

IV.

Discussion

This project was truly vital work for villagers, dental students and UHS. It did not only
play a important role to promote oral health among villagers who lived in rural area, but also
provided dental students with the valuable opportunity to explore their real practice linked withtheory. Students had an opportunity to learn and to understand the villager’s living situation,oral health behavior, believe and religion which would be a great initiative and the useful input
for their future dental professional. Thus, this project was important for villagers and efficienton the establishment of student capacity and human resources of UHS.

V.

Acknowledgement

On behalf of Faculty of Odonto-Otomatology, University of Health Sciences, Cambodia
and my own self, we would like to express our sincere thanks and gratitude and appreciation to
OISDE and humanitarian aids supporters for OIDSE to process the SETRA project and topromote oral health care in Cambodia.

	
  
	
  
	
  
	
  
	
  
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My Experience from SETRA Projectin Mondulkiri Province
Chroeung Kanitha
Faculty of Odonto-Stomatology University of Health Sciences,
Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

	  Oral health poses a very significant discussion among global health since it is the mostcommon issue that people around the world have faced, and the majority poor people havesuffered the most from oral and dental diseases, including dental caries, gingivitis, periodontitis
and so on and so forth. The causal factors of these problems are normally related to the socioeconomic status, culture and environment with which those people live.
In Cambodia, the rural poverty is still a great challenge since it accounted for 92 percent of thetotal poverty in Cambodia in 20091 . Those rural poor people are prone to have no access to bothprivate and public oral healthcare due to significant barriers, such as living in remote area, low
income and even low education. This situation reflects the very need of enhancing oral healthpromotion including education and care distribution to them through outreach dental projects.
SETRA standing for Students Experience Tour in Rural Area has been functioning as a very
helpful dental project sponsored by Organization of International Support for Dental Education(OISDE) collaborating with the faculty of Odonto-stomatology of the University of Health
Sciences (UHS) in Phnom Penh. The objective of SETRA project is to implement oral healtheducation and deliver the free dental service to Cambodian people living in the rural area,
particularly who have no full access to the public and private service to some extent, andproviding the dental students from UHS to absorb both on-job experiences from the voluntary
teamwork. I had a great opportunity to join SETRA project in Mondulkiri province, which lastfrom 23rd to 25th May, 2012, and I would like to share my experiences I obtained from thisvolunteering activity.
During SETRA, my responsibility was to assist a doctor who did oral-healthexamination for diagnosis. I wrote down the information into the observation chart. Movingfrom one patient to another quickly and carefully was necessary, because there were many
patients standing nearby and waiting for receiving diagnosis as well. Moreover, I dealt with thepost-treatment distribution of drug and oral-health questionnaire after treatment. I provided the
medicaments to the in-need patients who were mainly extracted their teeth. Meanwhile, I also
gave them advice of “Do and Don’t”. Last but not least, I asked the patients a set of questions
put in SETRA oral-health questionnaire, pertaining to their socio-economic status, their attitudeand behavior in oral hygiene, the frequency of their acceptance of dental service, and theirperception and suggestion to SETRA project.
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I think participating in this SETRA project is very necessary for dental students since it provides
us the chance to hone our clinical skill besides our usual practice at school’s dental clinic.
Compared with the dental treatment procedure in my dental school, the procedure in SETRA
project significantly taught me how to manage the time and options of treatment well. The
duration of each mission was short; it lasted only a full morning. Hence, the team had to deal
with each patient as quick as possible, yet we never forgot to focus on the quality of treatment.
In other words, I learnt a lot from how to improve speed of working, and make proper decisionon treatment plan within the short given time. Talking about teamwork, I never forgot the
momentous experience of working and helping with each other as if we came from the samefamily. Without good cooperation within the team, I am sure that we could not achieve our goalof engagement in the SETRA project. Thank to this project, I get to know the advantages ofcooperation and solidarity among members in this project.
Being different from the people living in the city, people in the rural areas had much more caries
due to the low level of education; among the patients we provided the treatment, only small
numbers of patients went to school. In fact, education is a basic issue when we deal with thehigh prevalence of dental caries, and poor oral hygiene in the rural area. Because of the SETRA
project, being different from the previous time, now I understand more clearly the situation withwhich those rural people have been living. Of the agenda in the whole mission, I am reallyinterested in the post-treatment stage in which we got a chance to briefly educate the patients on
how to clean their teeth and oral cavity properly and regularly. In so doing, I am certain thatthose people will be gradually aware of preventing way of dental caries.
The project also equipped me with the skill for doing survey in oral public health sector. Amongthe survey chart the team had to fill out during pre- and post-treatment, I noticed that the pretreatment part of the chart is similar to what I have done at my school’s clinic. However, what I
was intrigued in the most is the post-treatment one in which a bundle of important questions was
posed, pertaining to the attitude and behavior of the patients towards oral healthcare, and theirroot causes including low-level education, less access to oral healthcare service, and low socioeconomic status. By seeking answers to solve these questions well, I strongly believe that the
SETRA project will find the way to close any gap, and even better itself for the next missions.
Last but not least, besides the working aspect, I also enjoyed happy time with the otherparticipators and the rural people. Actually I was bit tired of the long-distance and timeconsuming journey, but I resumed my energy and felt so fresh in doing the task because the rurallandscape was nice and green. What is more, I felt that the daily living and culture of the rural
people taught me something different from what exists in the city, and this drove me to an ideaof where and how the social development should be implemented.
In conclusion, I really appreciate OISDE and the UHS who have cooperated andcoordinated with each other to make the SETRA project happen, and provided the dental
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students the golden opportunity in voluntarily participate in this project. Moreover, I am really
happy to join this project, and willing to go on engaging in this project if this project will berenewed in the next mandate.

Reference1	
 The world Bank overview Cambodia
http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/cambodia/overview (Accessed 23 July, 2012)

	
  
	
  
	
  
	
  
	
  
	
  
	
  
	
  
	
  
	
  
	
  
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Report from SETRA Mondulkiri Mission	  San Daneth 	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
 
Faculty of Odonto-Stomatology University of Health Sciences,
Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

	
  
	
  
	
  

I.	
 

Introduction of SETRA

SETRA (Student Experience Tour in Rural Area) is initiated by University of Health
Sciences, Faculty of Odonto-stomatology (UHS) and Organization of International Support for
Dental Education (OISDE), in order to give oral health education and treatment for people living
in rural area, where it is impossible for inhabitants to receive any dental service either
government or private sector. This project also intends to provide dental students with
opportunity for obtaining experience including implementation of oral health education,
treatment and learning rural area situation through communicating with villagers. Moreover, thisproject is expected to generate the students’ interest in rural area. I joined SETRA in Pou Long
village, Mondulkiri province in Cambodia from 23rd to 25th, May, 2012. I would like to reportmy experience.

II.

Mission Outline

This mission was set in Pou Long village’s health center. (Fig1) There were five teachersand 18 students joined this project. On the mission day, students prepared the place foreducating, treating the villagers, and organizing dental equipment, instruments and somemedicine. The sterilizer was also prepared. (Fig.2)

Fig.2: Sterilizer which was used in the mission

Fig.1: The mission was held at the health center
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Students were divided into four groups. First group members worked with the teachers todiagnosis patients and ask their general information such as gender, ethic and age, the reason of
attending SETRA, the history of treatment and the oral health behavior such as frequency of
tooth brushing. (Fig.3) In addition, these group members distributed medicine to patients after
their treatment. According to the diagnosis, second group members were responsible for treating
patients including ultrasonic scaling, extraction and filling supervised by teachers. (Fig.4 and 5)
The third group members were distributing and sterilizing instrument. (Fig.6) Then the fourthgroup members played the role in educating the local people how to brush their teeth correctly
using a dental model and big tooth brush. (Fig.7)

Fig.4: Student implemented ultrasonic scaling
for the patient

Fig.3: Students worked with teacher in diagnosis

Fig.5: Student extracted decayed tooth

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Fig.6: Students worked very careful withsterilized instruments because the next step
was to use instruments for patients. Students
wore gloves, mask and use twisters to catchall the instruments
	
  
	
  

Fig.7: Students educated the local people how
to brush their teeth correctly. Education may
motivate the local people to keep and improvetheir oral health sustainably
	
  
	
  

III.

Achievement

During one day of outreach program, the total of 29 villagers (8 male and 21 female)
was present at SETRA project. The mean age of villagers was 23.4±15.8.
Most of patients received scaling or simple extraction. (Table 1)
Type of Treatment

Number of Patients

Ultrasonic scaling

25

Simple extraction

13*

Restoration

3**

Table 1: The type of the treatment which villagers
received from SETRA*10 out of 13 villagers received both simple extraction andultrasonic scaling.
** 2 out of 3 villagers received both scaling and restoration.

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According to our questionnaire survey, all of the patients said that they were satisfied
with our project because they could receive dental treatment without any charge.

IV.

Discussion

According to the contents of treatment in SETRA, most of patients received ultrasonicscaling or simple extraction. This means that most villagers had periodontal disease or caries.
In my opinion, prevention especially education is the most effective way to promote oral healthin Mondulkiri because there is the shortage of dental personnel and limitation of dental treatmentin this area. For example, people need to receive education how to brush their teeth bythemselves and remove plaque properly. Furthermore, villagers have to know the importance oforal health behavior because sugar consumption, tobacco smoking, betel chewing and alcohol
drinking lead oral condition to be worsen. In terms of making teeth strong, villagers need to be
informed about usage of fluoride including fluoride tooth paste.
In my conclusion, while the aspect of treatment in SETRA project can contribute to thevillager’s oral health absolutely, this project has to promote villager’s oral health througheducation which enables villagers to maintain their oral health sustainably.

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Patients' satisfaction and students'	
  impression for
SETRA in Mondulkiri province	
  Ratanak Lim	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
  	
 
	
  
Faculty of Odonto-Stomatology University of Health Sciences,
Phnom Penh, Cambodia.	
  
	
  

I.	
  	
 

Introduction

Although dentist is popular occupation among Cambodian students in recent days, thenumber of dentists is still not enough in Cambodia. According to the report from the Ministry of
Health in Cambodia (not published), there are around 600 qualified dentists in Cambodia. Mostof dentists work in Phnom Penh for a better income. On the other hand, there are few dentists
who treat and promote oral health condition in rural area, even though some 85% of Cambodian
people live in rural areas.1 Therefore, rural people could hardly to access oral health treatment
and education.
Such situations lead to poor oral condition for rural people.
I could find that especially elderly people had poor oral hygiene and most of them had missing
teeth, through my experience in Mondulkiri. (Fig.1)
Organization of International Support for Dental Education (OISDE), which is JapaneseNGO, launched SETRA (Student Experience Tour to Rural Area) collaborating with the facultyof Odonto-stomatology of the University of Health Sciences (UHS) in 2009, in order toimplement oral health education and treatment for people living in the rural area such as
Mondolkiri, Ratanakiri, Kampong Thom, Battambang, Pursat and Sihanoukville. Additionally,
SETRA has provided students, especially 5th and 6th grade, with great opportunity including
educating and caring villagers, in order to generate the students’ interest in isolated area.
The purpose of this paper is to reveal villagers’ satisfaction from SETRA mission and toshow how students felt through the mission. Then, I would like to propose how to improve
SETRA in the future.

Fig. 1: Elderly person in Mondulkiri.
She said that she had never brushed her teeth in her life

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II.

Materials and Methods

In terms of villager’s satisfaction, several trained dental students conducted the oral
health questionnaire survey for villagers who were present at SETRA dental mission in
Mondulkiri, May 2012. (Fig.2) The questionnaire consisted of multiple choice options including
general information such as gender, ethic and age, the reason of attending SETRA, theinformational source of SETRA, the history of treatment, the oral health behavior such as
frequency of tooth brushing and the degree of satisfaction with SETRA.
As for students’ impression, the self-administrated written questionnaires wereconducted for students who had attended SETRA at least once. The questionnaires examined thereason why students participated in SETRA, what students expected for SETRA, how studentschanged before and after attending SETRA, what students learnt from SETRA and what it needs
to improve SETRA more. Qualitative content analysis was implemented. At first, I read througheach student’s answer by each questionnaire, and checked frequently-appearing words and set
these words as key words. Then, each student’s comment was categorized according to such key
words.
All analysis was conducted by Microsoft EXCEL 2007.

Fig. 2: Students asked a patient about his oral health behavior

III.
A.

ResultVillagers’ satisfaction from SETRA

Total 29 villagers received dental treatment, namely ultrasonic scaling, GIC restorationand dental extraction. According to the questionnaire survey, all patients answered that they
were satisfied with this project, because they could receive proper treatment. In addition, every
patient answered that they wanted to receive treatment from SETRA, again.
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B.

Students’ impression for SETRA

Forty one dental students, who had attended at SETRA, joined this questionnaire survey.
Fig. 3 shows why students participated in SETRA. Students wanted to educate and treat rural
people in order to improve their oral hygiene, equally 66.7% which is the highest percentage
among all purposes - providing effective treatment (43.6%), realizing living situation (20.5%),
getting more experience (38.5%) and making good friendship (7.7%).

Fig. 3: The reason why students wanted to participate in SETRAIn terms of students’ expectation for SETRA, over 70% students wanted to contribute to improveoral health status in rural area through SETRA. 30.8% of students strongly expected that theywould be able to gain clinical experience such as filling, dental extraction and scaling.
Furthermore, 23.1% of them expected to make good relationship between students and teachers.
Moreover, the result of “How students changed before/after participating in SETRA?” is shownin Fig.4. Over 50 % of students believed that they could obtain more experience and skill after
joining this project. Figure 5 shows what students obtained and learnt from SETRA. Over 70%
of students were able to gain their experience after the project which was the highest percentage,compared with other variations. Approximately 20% of them believed that they could exchange
culture in rural village and realize how to diagnose and treat new cases.

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Fig. 4: How students changed before and after participating in SETRA
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%

	
  

Fig. 5: What students obtained and learn from SETRA

According to students’ suggestion for improving SETRA in the future, 15.4% of themsuggested that UHS and OISDE should provide new materials and instruments. 56.4% of themsuggested for increasing working time and number of students. They also requested to expand
working place (53.9%) and to provide villagers with toothbrush and toothpaste (10.3%).

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IV.

Discussion

According to this survey, all patients were satisfied with SETRA mission.
Actually, it is difficult for villagers to find dental clinic and qualified dentist in isolated area.
Thus, outreach program such as SETRA can solve villagers’ problems. Furthermore, SETRA
may enable villagers to start caring of their oral health condition and change their behaviors,
because SETRA do not only focus on treatment, but also focuses on education.
SETRA is absolutely important for the dental students in UHS. It is hard for students toreceive enough clinical training in dental clinic in UHS, because the number of the patients islimited. Thus, SETRA may provide students with extra clinical experience. Additionally,
students may have opportunity to find rare cases which they have never seen in the urban
hospital. Also, they can make a good relationship with villagers through SETRA and understandthe culture and living situation in villages.
Almost all students mentioned that they were extremely interested and proud ofthemselves to participate in this project. For instance, some tribe people in Mondulkiri had neverbrushed their teeth since they were born. UHS students advised them how to brush their teeth
properly and tried to change their oral health behavior. Students felt that they could contribute tochange villager’s oral health behavior.
In fact, every dental student answered that they wanted to join SETRA again. It means that
SETRA exactly could generate students’ interest in rural area.
According to the results of this survey, in order to improve SETRA in the future,
students hope that UHS and OISDE will provide new materials and instruments for making
treatment more effective. Also, increasing working time and number of students, expanding
working place and providing toothpaste and toothbrush to patients seems to be effective for
future SETRA project. Furthermore, all villagers should be informed about the date when the
mission takes place, in advance, because some of villagers said that they did not obtain any
information about SETRA until the mission day.
In conclusion, SETRA definitely contribute to improve oral health situation in rural area
and to provide dental students’ with worth experiences.

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V.

Acknowledgement

We would like to say thank to OISDE for creating SETRA program to promote oral
health status of rural people and provide students with chance to obtain more experience andpractice on patients. Hopefully, we expect that OISDE will continue this program for next year.

VI. 	
 

Reference
1. Chu CH, Wong AW, Lo EC, Courtel F. Oral health status and behaviors of children inrural districts of Cambodia. Int Dent J. 2008 Feb;58(1):15-22.

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