Dr. Jessica Nidoy-Cadelina is a resolute and tireless President of the Philippine Dental Association (PDA) - Kaloocan City Chapter in 2021-2022. She has served their chapter for several years in various positions from 2003 to present.
Under her leadership in 2021, the Kaloocan City Dental Chapter (KCDC) has participated in worthy projects like Climate Change Adaptation and Covid-19 Response. The latter earned their Chapter special recognition being one of the City Of Caloocan’s Outstanding Partners as Covid-19 Pandemic Donor in March of 2022. The Chapter was also given recognition as the 3rd place winner of the 18th National Dental Health Month in February, 2022. The Chapter’s Public Health program - Lil Brave Hearts earned a Serbisyong Pinoy Award as well as a Presidential Merit Award also in 2022.
As KCDC President, Dr. Jessica has been busy giving interviews and accepting invitations as a Resource speaker in TV programs and different schools in Caloocan City.
With all the hard work and worthwhile projects, KCDC was recognized as an Outstanding Chapter in Luzon (Category C).
Dr. Jessica earned her degree of Doctor of Dental Medicine from Centro Escolar University in 2001 and finished her externship in Oral Surgery in the same year at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH).
Lil Brave Hearts Caloocan Chapter is a non profit organization. It is a group of parents with Down Syndrome and some with dual diagnosis. They have 32 members, ages 0 to 32 years old.
Kalookan City Dental Chapter (KCDC) signed a three-year Memorandum of Agreement with Lil Brave Hearts Caloocan Chapter headed by their President, Mrs. Mabel Roga. KCDC conducted a quarterly webinar on primary oral health care for the mothers and caregivers. Aside from teaching the mothers and caregivers about oral care, they were also trained how to establish an effective communication by a Speech Pathologist and a Sped Teacher. The virtual lectures were coupled with demonstrations that made the training more effective.
It is hoped that this project will educate all the mothers and caregivers with the different methods and techniques of oral health care to benefit their children with Down Syndrome.
Dr. Cirilie Castro of the Philippine Dental Association (PDA) - Negros Occidental Chapter is a dedicated and hard-working member of the said Chapter and served as its President in 2018-2019, where she has been awarded as PDA Outstanding Chapter President in 2019.
At present, she is the Public Health Chairman of the same Chapter from 2020. She spearheaded their Chapter’s Public Health Program in collaboration with the Department of Education-Bacolod, the “PDA Aking Pamilya Una Kong Dentista: Autistic Fantastic, Pamilyang Walastik” which earned merit from the PDA Awards in 2021.
Dr. Cirilie kept herself busy attending postgraduate short course programs in Pediatric Dentistry, Oral Surgery & Implantology, Orthodontics and Esthetic Dentistry from 2012-2019.
She earned her degree of Doctor of Dental Medicine from Iloilo Doctors College in 2004.
The Covid-19 pandemic has created a whole new layer of challenge to our children with special health care needs, especially the individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Thus, the PDA-Negros Occidental Chapter decided to adopt the PDA Public Health Program - "Aking Pamilya, Una Kong Dentista" which is very apt to today’s present condition.
This program aims to help the parents manage their children with ASD during this pandemic so that their kids will develop into individuals who will fantastically and competently practice proper oral hygiene on their own.
This is a collaboration between Dep-Ed Bacolod and the PDA-Negros Occidental Chapter, Inc. and is titled "PDA Aking Pamilya Una Kong Dentista: Autistic Fantastic, Pamilyang Walastik".
The PDA-Negros Occidental Chapter implemented this program for children with Autism, ages 3-13 years old using new learning modalities like Modular Distance Learning and Online Distance Learning. This was based on the premise that management of the oral health of children with Autism is a challenge to families and the caregivers. Most children with Autism have poor oral hygiene due to their poor communication skills and lack of motivation, which became more aggravated because of the lockdown. This situation became more evident and widely experienced among families with ASD as this made most ASD’s distressed, making it more difficult to involve them in routines and rituals regarding oral health. The barriers for oral care for ASD’s and their families are well recognized and include issues like social communication difficulties, behavioral difficulties and sensory sensitivities. (Open Research Exeter, 2018).
The program include training of these families on Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) with images for oral hygiene and toothbrushing techniques. The participants in this program were selected based on their willingness and approval. This program was conducted according to the guidelines of Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF), Department of Health (DOH), Department of Education (Dep-ED) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
It is the goal of this program to conduct community-based oral health survey among families that has a member with Autism as well as to promote best oral care practices in the new normal.
Dr. Jacqueline Navarro finished her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of the Philippines. She then earned her degree of Doctor of Medicine from the same University and pursued further training in Pediatrics at the Medical City. After two years, she completed her Fellowship training program in Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics at the John Hunter Children's Hospital in New South Wales, Australia. In the same country, she earned her Masteral degree in Clinical Epidemiology from the University of Newcastle.
At present, Dr. Jackie is a Fellow of the Philippine Pediatric Society and of the Philippine Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics.
She is a member and certified tutor of the Association for Research in Infant and Child Development. She is also an active member of the Neurodevelopmental and Behavioral Paediatrics Society of Australia.
Dr. Jackie works as a Consultant Staff in The Medical City Institute of Pediatrics since 2005 as a Developmental and Bahavioral Pediatrician.
Ms. Anna Rika Sy is a licensed physical therapist. She earned her degree of Bachelor of Science in Physical Therapy at the Our Lady of Fatima University in 2019.
While in college, Ms. Anna won 1st Runner Up in Our Lady of Fatima University PT Runungan Competition in 2015.
She has then worked in two different companies as a physical therapist from 2020 to 2021 and is currently working in Megacenter Diagnostics Corporation.
Dr. Manuel Vallesteros is best known for his heavyweight lectures packed with humor on the practice of pediatric dentistry. He is loved dearly for being straightforward and vocal about community programs conducted by local chapters, with emphasis on proper oral health promotion and levels of pediatric health care.
A shortlist of his countless achievements include:
For the longest time, Dr. Noel has been the Chairman of the Philippine Dental Association Awards Committee, an avenue where locally appropriate and culturally sensitive community programs are recognized. Currently, he is the Chairman of the Public Health Committee of the PPDSI. He is preoccupied brainstorming with the nation’s oral health advocates for programs to address the oral health needs of children, especially those with special health care needs in this time of pandemic.
November 29, 2022 - Tuesday |
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|---|---|
| 8:00 AM | Invocation / National Anthem / Welcome Address |
| 8:20 AM | Lil Brave Hearts: All for Downs Dr. Jessica Nidoy-Cadelina |
| 9:00 AM | Aking Pamilya Una Kong Dentista: Autistic Fantastic, Pamilyang Walastik Dr. Cirilie Castro |
| 9:35 AM | Introduction of Panelists Dr. Jacqueline Navarro (Developmental Pediatrician) Ms. Anna Rika Sy (Physiotherapist) Dr. Manuel Vallesteros (Child, Adolescent, Maternal and Oral Health Division Chief, Department of Health) |
| 9:45 AM | Panel Discussion |
| 11:30 AM | Awarding of Certificates |
