Door Step Oral Screening & Testing (DOST)

The DOST project focuses on conducting community-level mass screenings for oral premalignant disorders (OPMD) among tobacco users residing in rehabilitation colonies in Chandigarh. The project aims to identify all risk factors associated with oral cancer, provide optimal screening for the population, and ensure adequate management of high-risk individuals. A significant aspect of the project involves tobacco cessation, community health education, and raising awareness about the harmful effects of tobacco.

On 29th May 2025, a camp under the ‘Dant Rakshak’ initiative by ‘Prayog’ Foundation, in collaboration with NGO ‘Parivartan’ and the Indian Dental Association, Mohali, was organized at the Sector-45 market in Chandigarh for the general public. The program included an awareness session along with oral screening of tobacco users.

On the occasion of ‘World No Tobacco Day’ i.e. 30^th May, 2025 awareness talk was organized by NGO ‘Parivartan’ and Department of Psychiatry, GMCH-32, Chandigarh for the general public and patients at RHTC, Palsora by Dr. Abhinav Agrawal and Dr. Saikat Chakraborty on 31^st May, 2025.

Throughout the 2024-2025 period, the DOST project team screened a total of 151 individuals, identifying 42 of them with risk factors during the oral screenings.