Getting to the root of dental problems in Kenya
Fewer than 1,000 dentists serve the 44 million people of Kenya, from the far reaches of the bush to Nairobi’s vast Kibera slum. Dental hygiene is a rarity outside privileged urban regions.
«In most rural areas, people have to travel long distances to see a dentist,» says Stephen Irungu, chief dental officer at Kenya’s Ministry of Health and past president of the Rotary Club of Murang’a. «Most of the patients will go to the dental clinic only because they have pain.”
Cultural norms suggest that “it’s OK if your teeth fall out, if your teeth are broken. They think people are not going to…
