Cheongsong health center wins oral health award for second consecutive year

The Cheongsong-gun Health and Medical Center in North Gyeongsang Province has won the Ministry of Health and Welfare Award for Outstanding Institution for the second consecutive year. Cheongsong-gun announced Monday that the center received the honor at the 81st Oral Health Day ceremony at COEX in Seoul, in recognition of its contributions to community oral health programs and public dental health.

The center has moved away from clinic-based services to actively deliver outreach-style, customized oral disease prevention and care, reflecting the area's high proportion of elderly people living alone and residents with disabilities.

Its programs include a home-visit oral health care project in which public health dentists call on elderly residents with mobility difficulties, circuit education visits to 50 senior centers, and scaling and fluoride mouthwash programs targeting welfare facilities for people with disabilities.

During last year's major wildfire disaster, the center provided mobile dental checkups, toothbrushing instruction and denture-cleaning education to some 1,500 displaced residents staying at temporary shelters — ensuring uninterrupted public oral health services with no gaps in coverage even amid the emergency.

"This commendation from the Minister of Health and Welfare is a precious achievement made possible by the staff who have quietly worked on the ground for the health of our residents, and by the community members who have actively supported our county administration," Cheongsong County Governor Yun Gyeong-hui said.