AIDM students conduct dental screenings at Malir Cantt school

KARACHI: Second-year Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) students from Altamash Institute of Dental Medicine (AIDM) participated in a school-based oral-health outreach programme at Army Public School, Malir Cantt, on October 7, combining dental screenings and preventive health education with career counselling for schoolchildren.

Organised by AIDM’s Department of Community Dentistry, the initiative aimed to promote early awareness of oral hygiene while giving dental students practical exposure to community-based healthcare.

During the programme, children underwent oral-health screenings and dental examinations under faculty supervision. The team also conducted an interactive educational session covering proper tooth-brushing techniques, daily oral-hygiene practices and the importance of preventive dental care.

The educational activities encouraged children to adopt healthy oral-care habits from an early age, while the screenings provided an opportunity to assess their oral health and identify potential dental concerns.

For the participating BDS students, the outreach offered practical experience in clinical screening and communicating oral-health information to children in a school setting. The activity also demonstrated how preventive dentistry can be incorporated into community engagement beyond conventional clinical environments.

The programme additionally included career counselling for schoolchildren, broadening its scope beyond oral-health awareness.

Dr Amir Akbar Shaikh, Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Community Dentistry at AIDM, supervised the initiative. Demonstrators Dr Nikita Bodani, Dr Danial Ahmed, Dr Fatima Jaffri and Dr Zain Jabbar also participated, supporting the educational and screening activities alongside the second-year BDS students.

The outreach formed part of the department’s efforts to integrate practical learning into dental education while promoting awareness of preventive oral healthcare among children.

By bringing dental screening and oral-health education into the school environment, the initiative connected student training with community health promotion, highlighting the role of early education in encouraging better oral-hygiene practices.