Auleria Wakudumo
The Ministry of Health and Social Services has announced the official opening of a newly-renovated dental clinic that will enhance healthcare services at the Tsumeb District Hospital, which will also have upgraded X-ray facilities.
The ministry’s spokesperson Walters Kamaya said since the hospital’s establishment, its dental unit operated from a single consultation room, with one chair shared by all the dentists.
“All the dentists were using one small room and one chair alternating per patient,. This created a lot of challenges, including long waiting times, limited procedures, non-functional equipment, and compromised patient care,” he said.
Previously, dental services were limited to extractions only, with just one working compressor and a non-functioning X-ray machine.
Dentists had to alternate between patients in a cramped, single-room setting, significantly slowing service delivery and affecting treatment outcomes.
Kamaya added that the upgraded dental clinic features two fully-equipped dental rooms, with two dentists assigned per room. Each room has a brand-new dental chair, complete with its own X-ray machine.
In addition, the hospital now boasts a dedicated dental office, a separate sterilisation room, and individual compressors for each chair, ensuring that services are no longer interrupted by equipment shortages and sharing.
Modern digital X-rays
The hospital has taken a significant step towards improving healthcare services by installing modern X-ray machines. The new machines will enable doctors to produce quality images and significantly reduce patient turnaround times.
For many years, the hospital relied on outdated X-ray machines that demanded extensive manual operation. “This not only delayed the imaging process but also often resulted in poor image quality, complicating accurate diagnoses and making it difficult to effectively diagnose patients,” he pointed out.
X-ray machines are vital diagnostic tools, allowing doctors to visualize internal organs and detect various diseases.
The new X-ray machine comes with increased image quality and magnified areas of interest, which will aid in diagnosis and improved patient care. Kamaya said there is a tremendous reduction in radiation exposure to both patient and radiographer due to its increased speed as well as instant viewing of images, which saves time.
“It also provides smoother workflow, fewer mistakes and next to none repeating of images,” he added.