Assessment of Dental Healthcare Services and Workforce in the Jazan Region, Saudi Arabia

This study focuses on the Jazan region, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), To date, there has not been any documented evidence about dental health care in the region. The study aimed to provide an overview of dental healthcare services in Jazan, Saudi Arabia. Mainly secondary data were used in this study. Searches were conducted on MEDLINE, One Search Website, and Google Scholar. Most recent publicly available data were included that describe the current practice. The search was conducted between June 2020 and Jan 2021 for published documents including peer-reviewed manuscripts and published government documents on public oral health system in Jazan. We also obtained unpublished documents form the regional health directorate. There were 103 (59.2%) PHCs and 21 (12.1%) hospitals which had a dental component in Jazan region. Sabya City has the higher number of PHCs compared to other cities. Some cities do not have a dental service provided by PHCs, such as Al Harth and Atwal, which have four and five PHCs respectively but do not have dental clinics. The distribution of providers and services, the low number of dental hygienists and assistants, and the type of facility (PHCs or hospitals) are some of the issues in encountering dental service in the Jazan region. Further primary research focusing on different cities or geographical areas in the Jazan region is needed to validate these findings.