Background information: why should we help ?There is an urgent need for centres for specialized dentistry, in particular for Maxillofacial Prosthetics for head and neck oncology, in Low and Middle Income Countries (LAMIC) across the world. To help bridge this gap, in Groningen, The Netherlands, an initiative was launched during an International Symposium, organised by the department of Special Dental Care UMC Groningen, on February 8 and 9, 2007. Moldova has 3.7 million inhabitants. Chisinau, the capital city, has 720,000 inhabitants. The PMSI Institute of Oncology has to take care of head and neck oncology patients with a high Incidence of skin cancer and cancer of the oral cavity, resulting in a relatively high number of indications for prosthetic (curative and palliative) rehabilitation. As the Institute of Oncology in Chisinau has no centre for Maxillofacial Prosthetics, patients with functional as well as visible defects are reduced to helping themselves in their communities, which may result in their being less functional in everyday life, and even lead to their becoming outcasts. The need of care for prosthetic reconstruction of maxillary, mandibulary and/or facial defects in 2005 and 2006 is approximately 80 to 90 new (oncologic, post-accidental and congenital) patients per year. No facility is available nor any trained dental specialist working in the clinic or polyclinic of the hospitals in the Chisinau area. Based on these facts, the project plan for Maxillofacial Prosthetics for LAMIC has been established to help out the people of Chisinau suffering from oro-facial defects, by training a dentist into maxillofacial prosthetics and instalment of equipment in the PMSI hospital. Based on these facts, and on a visit in November 2007, a project plan for maxillofacial prosthetics in Moldova has been formulated in order to offer these severely handicapped patients a new chance, viz. by schooling a dentist/prostheticist and setting up an oro-maxillary surgery. |