Camera Dust on camera sensor: What to do?

Hi,
A month back I went for an trek with my Panasonic Lumix LZ8. The environment was all moist as most of the trek was through forest and mountains. After I came back home from trek, I noticed some spots on images that were taken after trek. I tried to clean lens with cloth, but it didn't helped. So camera sensor is the culprit.

Here are some pics on blank surface to show spots:
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Today I was trying to take a pic with camera mounted on cheapo DealExtreme tripod and suddenly tripod head broke off and camera dropped on parapet wall of my balcony. I somehow got hold of the camera and saved it from fall onto ground.
Then I noticed that due the impact of camera fall, dust/spots on camera senor was reduced considerably.

Here is the condition for now:
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The question is:
Where should I take my camera to?
Should I take it to Panasonic official service center?
Is this(dust on sensor) covered under warranty?
Or is there any other way of cleaning the sensor?

PS: Camera is 2 years old and it still has 1 year warranty left.

I always take good care of my camera, but somehow dust got inside it.
What measures can you suggest so that this won't happen again?

Noise problem:
I did noticed that before todays fall, when camera sensor has got dust on it, noise in pics was very high. Even at daylight there was some noise and it became worst at low light.
Now they noise is no more in my pics and Aperture priority mode is working like charm which was screwed when sensor had dust.
Does dust on sensor affect camera performance? or It is just my illusion?
 
Re: Dust on camera senson: What to do?

drop it once in 2 months :bleh:

sorry, but i dont have any real advice... though the service center guys can clean it up for you, canon/nikon do it as well.
 
Re: Dust on camera senson: What to do?

^^ Canon/Nikon do it only with DSLR cameras where you can remove the lens. For a P&S camera I dont know how easy/difficult it is to clean the sensor.
 
You should take it to service centre and know their opinion. I feel they will guide you on this matter though ur problem might not be covered under warranty.
 
If it would had been a SLR, we would had been able to help.. but for P&S u need to go to service center.. they can only help in this thing..
 
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