Friday 19 November 2010

402. Half of the Portuguese can not afford dentist

We estimate that about 50 percent of its population is unable to pay even a dental consultation in private. While there are no dentists in health centers or systems of licensing, people will be excluded from oral health, told a news agency Lusa the president of the College of Dentists, Orlando Monteiro da Silva.
The Dental Association has fought so that there are dentists in health centers and hospitals or portuguese in order to create systems with the private agreement. Orlando Monteiro da Silva cited a study by University of Liverpool, where Portugal is with 'the blackest scenario in Europe in oral health care. And it is largely the absence of tender by the National Health Service (Serviço Nacional de Saúde in Portuguese language) at the level of dentistry is also creating a surplus of these professionals in the country and the Order regrets the lack of manpower planning.
If the Portuguese population to have passed all access to oral health care, the dentists likely did not arrive, estimated Orlando Monteiro da Silva. But as this is not true, the Portuguese dentists are seeking other countries: We are exporting human resources for deficit countries such as England and the Netherlands, the Nordic countries because the profession is no longer attractive. Portugal and Poland are the countries that most contribute to oral health services NHS English, for example.
Estimates of the Order indicate that within three years, in 2010, a dentist for every 1,180 people in Portugal. By comparison, Spain has a professional for every 2,667 persons, one each for the Netherlands and the UK 2,118 people a per 2105 people. Projections of the number of dentists for the next years show a lack of control over-training of graduates. The result will inevitably increase unemployment and underemployment in the class, referred to the Dental Association.
In Portugal, only the autonomous regions have oral health systems to serve users of the SNS. In the Azores there are 19 dentists in the public health regional and Order provides that, in some years, the Azores are the best indicators of oral health. In the Autonomous Region of Madeira, there is an agreement between the regional health service and private, in the public system to partially reimburse the cost of users who use private dentists.
* * *
How long will we continue to portuguese pay tens of thousands of dollars in taxes to pay for the training of every dentist and then later those same dentists can not perform dental care to people who really need?
Awaiting response to this situation at least absurd and ridiculous for a member country of the European Union, the Ministry of Health has the kindness to give proper reply to the email on this blog.

No comments: