Dow student wins AKU award for portable dentistry study

KARACHI: Omer Abdullah, a student of Dow Dental College at Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS), has won the Best Research Poster Presentation Award at Aga Khan University’s International Student Research Conference (ISRC) for a study examining the use of portable dental units in underserved communities of coastal Sindh.

The research abstract was selected from more than 1,600 poster submissions considered for the conference before securing the award.

Abdullah also serves as co-convener of the dental team at Ebtekar Rah Roshan (ERR), a registered NGO in Sindh working in healthcare digitalisation, research and education.

The study was conducted under the supervision of Principal Investigator Dr Zobiyah Charolia, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of ERR. Its field component and data collection were supported through the organisation’s community outreach initiatives.

The research focused on a practical problem facing remote communities where access to conventional dental facilities is limited. To assess whether portable dentistry could help address that gap, a lightweight dental unit was used during outreach camps in Keti Bander, Jati and Zero Point in coastal Sindh.

A total of 166 patients were evaluated through the mobile setup.

According to the study findings, 81.3% of patients were successfully diagnosed and managed on-site. Those requiring more complex treatment were identified and referred for advanced specialised care.

The project assessed whether basic dental services could be delivered effectively outside a conventional clinic, particularly in areas where distance, transport costs and limited availability of dentists can restrict access to care.

The findings suggest that portable dental setups may have a role in extending screening, diagnosis, selected treatment and referral services to underserved populations.

Researchers also emphasised that portable dentistry is not a replacement for specialist or hospital-based care. Instead, the model may function as an extension of the wider oral healthcare system by managing suitable cases at community level and directing more complex patients to higher-level facilities.

The fieldwork conducted in Keti Bander, Jati and Zero Point provided the research team with an opportunity to test the model under real-world conditions rather than in a conventional institutional setting.

The 81.3% on-site management rate was among the most significant findings of the study, indicating that more than four out of five patients assessed through the outreach model were able to receive immediate dental assessment and management without requiring initial treatment at a conventional dental hospital or clinic.

The remaining patients were referred for more advanced care, highlighting the importance of maintaining structured referral pathways alongside mobile dental services.

The award also drew attention to the wider issue of unequal access to oral healthcare in Pakistan, where dental services and professionals remain concentrated largely in urban centres.

For remote and coastal communities, portable dental units may offer a practical way to bring basic oral healthcare closer to patients when establishing permanent facilities is not immediately feasible.

The study adds to growing interest in community-based and mobile models of dental care, particularly for populations that face geographic and infrastructural barriers to treatment.

Further research involving larger patient groups, different regions, longer follow-up and cost-effectiveness assessments would be needed to determine how widely such models could be adopted.

For Abdullah and the research team, the recognition at AKU’s ISRC reflects both the academic value of the project and its focus on a real healthcare delivery challenge.

With 166 patients evaluated, 81.3% managed on-site and the research selected from more than 1,600 submissions, the study provides an early indication of how portable dentistry could contribute to expanding oral healthcare access in underserved parts of Pakistan.