DENTAL THERAPY ASSOCIATION OF SOUTH AFRICA
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THE OFFICIAL HOMEPAGE OF THE DENTAL THERAPY ASSOCIATION OF SOUTH AFRICA.
This site has been designed as a pilot communications system to improve interaction between all dental therapists both nationally and internationally as well as to facillitate better interaction between stakeholders and professional organs in Dentistry.
This site is uder development .... watch this space :)
Kindly forward this site address to your fellow collegues and professional partners to expand knowledge of the profession and this site.
Visit the site often to keep abreast with changes and developments in the profession
Kindly send memos / other important messages , concerns and suggestions to denticare@vodamail.co.za
regards and best of wishes for the year ahead
Lesley Sebastian Naidoo
PRESIDENT
DENTASA
NATIONAL PRESIDENT : LESLEY SEBASTIAN NAIDOO
EMAIL : denticare@vodamail.co.za
GENERAL SECRETARY : THABO MMETHI
EMAIL : tmmethi@webmail.co.za
MARKETING AND PUBLICITY : MILLICENT
EMAIL: motsei@absamail.co.za
LETS MAKE THE DIFFERENCE ... TOGETHER WE CAN DO MORE ....
NATIONAL CONGRESS OF DENTAL THERAPISTS 6,7,8 MARCH 2008 - GAUTENG - CLICK FOR INVITE - YOU NEED TO ATTEND - 15 CPD POINTS
DIRECTIONS TO THE CONGRESS
PRIVATE PRACTITIONERS 2008 TARIFF - NHRPL LINK CLICK TO DOWNLOAD 2008 TARIFF GUIDE
STRATEGIC PLAN DOCUMENTS - CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING LINKS
1. ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT - A WAY FORWARD FOR DENTASA NATIONALLY - 2006
2. PROPOSAL 2 - SADTA - FOR EFFECTIVE CHANGE - PROFESSIONAL NAME AND IMAGE FOR DENTASA 2005
3.FOR COMMENT / FEEDBACK - PRIVATE PRACTICE CODES FOR RATIFICATION BY INDEPENDANT PRACTITIONERS - YOUR INPUT HERE IS ESSENTIAL FOR DENTASA TO FORMULATE AN ASSOCIATION TARIFF FOR DENTAL THERAPY IN SOUTH AFRICA - URGENT - ATTENTION
4. APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP - DENTASA-
JOIN DENTASA NOW !!! - RIGHT CLICK AND DOWNLOAD ABOVE LINK - MEMBERSHIP FORMS AVAILABLE
DENTASA BANKING DETAIL
DENTAL THERAPY ASSOCIATION OF SOUTH AFRICA
STANDARD BANK
QUEENSBURGH - 8126
ACCOUNT NUMBER:
2 5 0 9 6 1 8 0 6
ALTERNATIVELY : should you wish to join dentasa please forward your email address and you would recieve an application form by mail.
join by post : send a SASE - to DENTASA POBOX 561646 CHATSWORTH 4030, DURBAN , KZN
you are urged to join online
Registration with dentasa is a once off annual fee of R600.00 or easy debit order payments of R60pm x 12 months .
Join now and win with Dentasa - the final frontier in dentistry ...
CLICK ABOVE LINK (MEMBERSHIP APPLICATIONS) FOR AN APPLICATION FORM IF YOU ARE NOT YET REGISTERED *** IT IS ESSENTIAL TO REGISTER ASAP :):):)
All Dental Therapists are expected to register with the association easy payment plans available through monthly debit orders as well as once off payments of R600 p.a.
Please remember that DENTASA is working for you, weather you are in the independent, private or public sector we at DENTASA strive to achieve recognition and respect for the profession of DENTAL THERAPY - we are proud to be Dental Therapists Lets join together in the final frontier to gain only what some have dreamed of, a profession that is unique and sovereign, lets advance within our profession as we expand and grow in diversity of clinical functions and scope in Dental Therapy, spearheading and leading the way in preventive and conservative dentistry in South Africa.
2007 Address by The President of DENTASA
2007 holds many promises for the profession of Dental Therapy in South Africa. The development, education and mobilization of the profession is the precedence in all our national activities. As part of steering an ailing association and redirecting efforts, energies, misconceptions and uncertainties is the express belief of every Dental Therapist to conceive hope and admiration in a profession that truly delivers first world preventative medicine in Dentistry.
The World Health Organisation has embraced the principles of primary healthcare and preventative medicine throughout the world. Human resources for health in developing and developed countries are re-evaluating their prescribed doctrines of health, training and development. South Africa is no stranger to the overwhelming health crises that plagues nations. Where tertiary and advanced forms of medicine has been the historical focus of nations across the world, with great emphases on curative based health service delivery, preventative medicine and prevention has produced results that are cost effective and have greater health outcomes.
As part of this magnanimous effort in the world, dentistry shares a small but significant part of the effort to boost prevention of diseases. The principle of prevention Prevention being better than Cure holds fast the fundamental belief that healthcare must concentrate on cause rather than effect.
The dubious reality in health is the vast disparity between public and private funded systems of healthcare. Both systems are indispensable components of service delivery in a multifarious society. The authentic reality however proves to prescribe various motives for healthcare and service delivery. One may find that the prominent feature of private healthcare is cost and moreover cost. In the public sector the bare essential form of care is afforded to society and efficiency takes precedence.
The cost factor of health is a bona fide and ever present nudge in every persons lives. Where public services focus on the optimisation of health budgets, the private sector would base most of their services on curative and costly outcomes where health expenditure relates to capitalistic profits. Although this may seem a crude statement in health it relates to evident claim patterns that many medical scheme administrators would declare.
In Dentistry for example, the cost of restoring a tooth that has been fractured or decayed by means of a direct filling is less than the cost of restoring the same tooth with a crown or prefabricated onlay. A dentist may choose to prescribe a crown and may clinically justify this treatment yet the cost factor is about 10 times more than a complex restoration. In the public sector a practitioner would do the most to cost effectively resolve the tooth problem, yet in the private sector a practitioner often decides to perform that treatment that is most profitable. The cost to educate and thereby prevent such an occurrence in dentistry is much more cost effective.
Managed health outcomes are increasingly pointing to preventative and minimal invasive forms of dentistry, such as provision of benefits for restorations and not covering specialised and advanced forms of dentistry. This again relates to focuses on preventative medicine and a shift away from curative, tertiary forms of healthcare.
Government must realise the value of Dental Therapy in South Africa both in the public and private sectors of dentistry. Dental Therapy undeniably fulfils the role of primary and secondary essential services in dentistry throughout the country cost effectively and efficiently and forms a 100% strategic fit with the basic minimum package of services in dentistry prescribed by the minister of health.
I would like to encourage every Dental Therapist to endeavour in the struggle to overcome political waves of doubt and despair poised by curative focused service providers and organisations that would obviate such opposition in the ultimate struggle between prevention and cure.
The South African Dental Therapy Association thus supports the South African government in its efforts to curb oral disease profiles amongst South Africans through prevention and primary healthcare.
Lesley Sebastian Naidoo
President
South African Dental Therapy Association
www.dentasa.zoomshare.com
denticare@vodamail.co.za
CPD - CONTINUOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT - TRAINING IS NOW MANDATORY FOR ALL DENTAL THERAPISTS IN SOUTH AFRICA - HPCSA. 1/1/2007
You are urged to participate in the following training program to equip yourself with the tools necessary to provide your patients with added value and technologically advanced procedures. For independent practitioners, this valuable course would provide you with greater opportunities to improve your treatment options available to your patients. Many Dentists have completed this training module and you are urged to attend to develop your clinical expertise in Dental Therapy. DENTHASA is currently planning various courses for Dental Therapist Development throughout the year make sure you attend, as all courses would credit you with mandatory CPD point requirements as per the HPCSA guidelines.
kindly contact our general secretary THABO - details above - NATIONAL TRAINING IS BEING PLANNED FOR EACH QUARTER OF THE YEAR - STAY ALERT STAY ABREAST OF RAPID DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROFESSION.
1. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
Fibre reinforced (strengthened) composites employ relative new technology in order to provide cost-effective, minimally invasive and patient-pleasing aesthetic dentistry. Worldwide, these techniques represent a growing field in dentistry.
These techniques were developed in Finland and introduced to South African dentists in 2004. Since then more than 750 dentists attended the Stick Bond hands-on courses.
During the 2006 DENTASA AGM a lecture on Fibre Reinforced Composites were presented; followed by a training session attended by 20 therapists. The training session was very popular and numerous requests for localized training sessions were made by the delegates at the AGM.
The dental therapist is seen as the first line in providing dental treatment for the general public. Continuing education is therefore critically important for the dental therapist in order to keep abreast in modern techniques, to the benefit of his/her patients.
This proposal not only aims at improving the capacity of the dental therapist, but also to empower the dental therapist in obtaining his/her full money-earning potential as well as providing a wider scope of services to his/her patients.
2. COURSE CONTENT AND PROJECTED OUTCOME
Course content:
1. Introduction: what is fibre reinforcement, how did it develop, different types of fibres, applications in dentistry, indications and contra-indications
2. Splinting: clinical cases illustrating step-by-step techniques, demonstration, practical
3. Direct bridges: clinical cases illustrating step-by-step techniques, patient selection, design principles, demonstration, practical
4. Other uses: posts, reinforcing huge composite restorations, direct veneers
5. How to claim from the medical aids
6. Closure and handing out of certificates
Projected outcome: After completing the training session, the delegate will be able:
1. To splint the teeth of a periodontal compromised patient
2. To design and construct a direct bridge using different methods to manufacture the pontic(s)
3. To reinforce huge composite restorations employing different techniques
4. To select patients suitable for placing fibre reinforced composites
5. To understand the basis on how to claim these techniques from the medical aids
The struggle for development of the profession continues, by your commitment to the association and your education and clinical improvement, Dental Therapy would inevitably take its rightful place in the Dental Fraternity in South Africa.
DENTASA plans to launch a quarterly journal this year kindly join the membership and show your support for the profession.
Approximately 65 dental therapists have completed the fibre reinforced training module and have recieved CPD accreditiation - The association is busy putting together the relevant tariff codes for procedural claims from schemes.
DENTASA is also planning further educational modules relating to other areas of dentistry for 2007.
Here are some pics of the recent courses held :
Thanks to Mr Enver Archari of Private Wealth - Old Mutual for hosting the KZN training
busy with the fibre reinforced lecture
hands on training ...
Dr Klaas Visser & Lesley
   
UPDATE : 01/04/2006/
here are some pics of the AGM - KZN - thanks to Kim from 3M
Dr Jan Mogaldi - SAMDP joined us on this occaision
THE KZN AGM 2006 was successful and the new branch executive has been selected to continue to spearhead the profession in KZN.
Plans are underway for intensive consultations with various stakeholders and authorities for the promotion, expansion and vertical and horizontal development of the educational components of Dental Therapy.
As a priority Professional Educational Development and Scope of the profession is regarded as a matter of urgency.
DENTASA OBJECTIVES
1. TO CREATE A SUSTAINABLE AND PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION ADOPTING BEST BUSINESS PRACTICE AND MANAGEMENT AT ALL LEVELS OF THE ASSOCIATION
2. TO ATTAIN FULL MEMBERSHIP OF ALL REGISTERED DENTAL THERAPISTS IN SOUTH AFRICA BY OCTOBER 2006
3. TO FACILLITATE THE DEVELOPMENT AND POGRESSION OF DENTAL THERAPY AND DENTAL THERAPISTS
4. TO ELIMINATE PROFESSIONAL DISCRIMINATION AND FOSTER HEALTHIER RELATIONSHIPS IN THE DENTAL FRATERNITY .
5. TO PROTECT THE INTRESTS OF DENTAL THERAPY AND DENTAL THERAPISTS IN SOUTH AFRICA
6. TO BUILD RELATIONSHIPS WITH DENTAL COUNCILS ACROSS THE WORLD FOR THE RECOGNITION OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN DENTAL THERAPY PROFESSION AS AN INTERNATIONALY ACCREDITED PROFESSION - TO FACILLITATE INTERNATIONAL ACCREDTITION PROGRAMMES
7. TO FACILLITATE THE PROGRESSION OF DENTAL THERAPY TRAINING AND EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND EXPANDED FUNCTIONS OF THERAPISTS
8. TO PROTECT DENTAL THERAPISTS FROM UNFAIR LABOUR PRACTICE AND DISCRIMINATION IN THE WORK ENVIRONMENT
9. TO PROMOTE DENTAL THERAPY TO ALL ORAL HEALTHCARE ROLEPLAYERS
10. TO FACILLITATE THE INVOLVEMENT OF DENTAL THERAPISTS IN COMMUNITY ORAL HEALTHCARE PROGRAMMES
11. TO FACILLITATE RECOGNITION OF THE PROFESSION TO FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS AND PROMOTE DENTAL THERAPISTS REQUIRING FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE OR START UP CAPITAL
12. TO ATTAIN PPS ACCREDITION FOR ALL DENTAL THERAPISTS
13. TO ENSURE EQUAL PAY FOR PROCEDURES AS RENDERED BY OTHER DENTAL PROFESSIONALS AND PREVENT DISCRIMINATION BY MEDICAL FUNDERS .
14. TO BUILD A UNIFIED DENTAL ASSOCIATION IN SA WITH A GENERAL DENTAL COUNCIL IN THE LONG TERM
15. TO ENCOURAGE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES IN THE DENTAL THERAPY PROFESSION IN SOUTH AFRICA
16. TO ENCOURAGE THE RECRUITMENT AND TRAINING OF MORE DENTAL THERAPISTS AS PER THE WHITE PAPER ON THE TRANSFORMATION OF HEALTHCARE IN SOUTH AFRICA
17. TO CREATE AN ENVIRONMENT SUITABLE FOR EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN MEMBERS AND THE EXECUTIVE OF DENTASA
18. TO EMPOWER DENTAL THERAPISTS AND ASSIST WHERE NECESSARY MAKING REPRESENTATIONS ON BEHALF OF MEMBERS AT ALL LEVELS OF GOVERNANACE , ETHICS AND BEST PRACTICE
19. TO ENGAGE ALL MEMBERS I N CONTINUED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CPD . AND STAY AHEAD WITH THE DEVELOPMENTS IN DENTAL TECHNOLOGY .
20. TO PROVIDE DENTAL SOLUTIONS TO ALL SOUTH AFRICANS BY CREATING UNIQUE BUSINESS RELATIONS WITH DENTAL PARTNERS AND MEMBERS IN MAKING DENTISTRY AFFORDABLE AND DENTAL TREATMENT ATTAINABLE .
21. TO ESTABLISH THE SOVREIGNITY OF DENTAL THERAPY IN SOUTH AFRICA
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