A Glimpse of PPDSI’s History
By Dr. Baifatima Maharaeysha Gania
As early as 1988, a group of pediatric dentists trained in the US and Europe was having monthly luncheon meetings to exchange ideas, consult on dental cases, and plan the future of pediatric dentistry in the Philippines. They approached some people in the dental profession about their desire to put up a training program in pediatric dentistry. However, it was not until 1990 that their ideas were heeded when they joined a group of general dental practitioners and medical professionals and sought to make the practice of pediatric dentistry a venue for positive collaboration among health care professionals, health care policymakers, educators, parents and the child patients themselves in the overall health care of young people.
On February 5, 1990, the group found its first home at the Philippines Children’s Medical Center (PCMC) in Quezon City, where the founding team of dentists operated the Pediatric Dentistry Division (PDD), the first hospital-based pediatric dentistry specialty facility in the country.
The three major thrusts of the PDD were service, training, and research. During its five years in PCMC, The PDD provided comprehensive dental care and treatment for children, including the physically, mentally, and emotionally handicapped, and the medically compromised. In the area of training its highly qualified team of dentists offered a six-month Externship Training Program for those who wished to be able to provide treatment to their pediatric dental patients in their general practice. By December 1995, the founding team of Dentists had overseen the successful completion of eight batches of externs.
So deeply involved was the team in carrying out this three-pronged mission that it was only in February 1993 that the Philippine Pediatric Dental Society was officially registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission as a foundation.
In early 1995, circumstances arose in PDD that led to irreconcilable differences with the PCMC management. The PPDSI created the Philippine Dentists Development Cooperative (PDCP) to operate as the first and only Pediatric Dentistry Center in the country, located at the DR Fe Del Mundo Medical Center Foundation formerly Children’s Medical Center Philippine (CMCP) one of the country’s prestigious institution in pediatric medicine led by Dr. Fe Del Mundo. The Society opened its new home on July 22, 1996, bringing with it the original unity of purpose and professional teamwork which engaged the founding group as it continues its commitment to service, training, and research in the field of Pediatric Dentistry.
The Society has been blessed with numerous awards and citations going back even to its earliest years. In June 1994, PPDSI was awarded the Bronze Medal by the Health and Management Information System (HAMIS) a technical cooperation project of the Department of Health and the German Agency for Technical Cooperation. The Society was first recognized by the Philippine Dental Association in the year 1988 and PPDSI was awarded with the “ highly meritorious award. PPDSI remains a consistent award-winning affiliate as PDA recognized PPDSI as an “Outstanding Affiliate” numerous times in the years 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2004. The Community Programs of the Society have also been recognized in the national and international fields- such as the “Mga Munting Ngiti” community project in 2005 and the “Batang May K” daycare project in 2007.
Through the years, the PPDSI was able to establish affiliations with different national and international professional organizations. It is a founding member society of the Pediatric Dentistry Association of Asia and a member society of the International Association of Pediatric Dentistry.
The Society has the unique distinction of being recognized as the only Pediatric Dentistry group that is an affiliate of the Philippine Dental Association (PDA), by the Professional Regulations Commission, and by the Philippine Pediatric Society.
PPDSI has been consistent in providing excellent lectures and seminars to both pediatric and general dentists. To date, the society has trained more than a hundred able dentists and still continuously doing so. To provide the entire Philippine archipelago with dentists astute in dealing mainly with children and the physically and mentally challenged.
Excerpts from Pediatric Dentistry Newsletter Vol VII, No. 3. Third Quarter 1996 and
PPDSI President’s Report.