Sri Lankan Dental Therapists Association Celebrate their Silver Jubliee

The BADT sent warm congratulations to the SLDTA for their Silver Jubliee Celebration on 26th November.

Their Vice President, Sumithra Kumarihamy, sent a brief history on dental therapists in Sri Lanka:

'The School Dental Service was a project under the Colombo Plan extended to us with the assistance of the Government of New Zealand. In 1951 and 1952 they trained twelve of our girls in New Zealand. On their return to the island the service came into exisitance in 1953. This was an entirely new occupation for women in Sri Lanka. The comprehensive training which included outstanding management and skilled services was well accepted by the public.

The New Zealand Government released their Assistant Director of Dental Services, Dr Bruce Rice to take charge of the project. Miss Kathleen Salter and Miss Better Webber, two New Zealand tutors joined him. The first batch of fifteen trainees were accepted at the Dental Therapist Training School, situated in Maharagama in Colombo in 1955. The training was strictly according to the New Zealnd model. The theme was to keep a child dentally fit from an early age with methodical dental health care and planned dental treatments.

The Sri Lankan Dental Therapists Association was founded in 1959 and present membership stands at three hundred therapists providing services in approximately three hundred clinics all over the island.

We are proud to hear of BADT's achievements in the service and express our sincere gratidude for taking hands with the SLDTA'.