National Dental Health Month

On February 24, 2004, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo issued Proclamation No. 559, declaring the month of February of every year, as National Dental Health Month, amending Proclamation No. 235, signed by then President Elpidio Quirino on January 24, 1951, declaring February 3-9 of each year as National Dental Health Week, for “fully realizing the vital role that the dental profession plays in the maintenance of a healthy citizenry to enable the dental profession to carry out its mission more effectively by arousing the dental health consciousness of the people”. President Gloria Arroyo extended the celebration to a whole month to reach out more Filipinos especially in the countryside and make them more conscious about the value of good oral and dental health.

Dental Health Week has been celebrated in the past for 54 years, from 1951 to 2004, and February this year (2008), marks the 4^th annual observance of the National Dental Health Month, since 2005.

Essentially, the dental law of the Philippines, in all the stages of its evolution, is the fundamental objective that, legislation governing the practice of dentistry should aim at protecting the public against unqualified and unlicensed persons and establishing the necessary ethical and professional standards among members of the profession, so that persons desiring to engage in the practice of Dentistry may know what degree of skill and competence they ought to attain, thereupon fortifying public faith and confidence to the persons granted the privilege of practicing dentistry in the Philippines.