522. Teeth: Professional accused the state of not giving priority to oral health

Fear and lack of money and information away from the Portuguese in the dentist's chair. Portugal is the European countries that have worse oral health, with almost all children to submit at least one tooth and a high number of elderly toothless. Cavities, gum disease, missing teeth and joint pain, resulting from lack of treatment and rehabilitation incorrect, forcing many Portuguese to face the dreaded dentist's drill.

The specialist Ricardo Marques points the finger at the state disinterest in education of children, adults and seniors for good dental health practices, and adopting programs to promote oral hygiene in schools and retirement homes. For this specialist dentistry, measures such as dental checks for seniors, children or pregnant are "populist and less comprehensive."

Another problem is the organization of the National Health Service, which falls short of needs: "There are doctors in the health centers," complains.

There is also a cultural barrier. We have a culture superpenalizadora dentist and a lack of appeal to dental esthetics, criticizes the specialist for whom poor oral hygiene is a problem structural. Pain is the symptom, and treatment involves going to the dentist at least once a year. Prevention is the cure: careful diet, brushing several times a day with a fluoride-rich paste, tooth and pass the tape gargle with elixir.

The delay of the problems of dentistry generates more complex, expensive and painful, warns Ricardo Marques. Oral health affects the welfare, and the lack of treatment, or when this is not appropriate, leads to other problems: headaches, bad breath or gastric diseases.

The absence of a perfect smile reflected in self-esteem. Are also worrying absence from work. About 100 euros a year are enough to keep teeth healthy. The lack of trips to the dentist can cost 30 000 euros.

Save up millions in consultations and antibiotics to reduce the casualties and the work delays, warns Ricardo Marques, lamenting that oral health is not a priority in the country.

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DIRECT SPEECH
ONE MILLION WAS DISTRIBUTED CHEQUE-DENTIST

(Rui Calado,  Program Coordinator for Oral Health)

- Programs to promote oral health are sufficient?
- Are being developed satisfactorily. Guaranteed access of vulnerable groups to the dentist. There are already many children without caries, and we want to extend the assignment of checks - dentist for people infected with the AIDS virus.
- Oral health is a priority?
- In 2010, was not the only programs that have suffered budget cuts and, in the last two and half years, we can deliver one million dental checks. This demonstrates the commitment of the State.
- Insufficient dentists in health centers?
- No need to build clinics in health centers. Here's oral hygienists who provide primary preventive care. For more severe cases, we have 3800 professionals who have an agreement with the National Health Service, operating in private practices.

Correio da Manhã 

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The expert warns government entities: 100 euros for the state to invest in oral health of the Portuguese can save € 30 000 (ie 100 euros annually investing now might save up to 29 900 euros in the future). Does the Government and the Directorate - General of Health will continue to deny access to the majority of Portuguese primary health care oral? What is made of hundreds of dental practices in the National Health Service closed? And the Ministry of Education will continue to spend billions of euros to reshape the school park and forget completely that children and young people in need of oral health care? And why medical organizations linked to oral health continue to maintain almost complete silence about the calamitous state of oral health in Portugal? Shame on policy has limits, gentlemen rulers.

521. Students of the Faculty of Dental Medicine of Lisbon in protest

Press on the picture to watch the video in Portuguese

(after advertising)

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 http://www.tvi24.iol.pt/aa---videos---sociedade/medicina-dentaria-dentistas-estudantes-protesto-tvi24/1236649-5795.html

Students of the Faculty of Dental Medicine of Lisbon are on strike against budget cuts. The fourth and fifth years are essentially practical and serve about 100 users per day, but because of the cuts they lack basic material for consultations.

This Wednesday, made ​​a silent protest, with black masks instead of clinical masks. Nearly 500 queries had to be postponed this week. Students took advantage of the opening of a new clinic in college to show discontent and try to find a solution.

TVI24

520. Prevention in oral health

http://www.casimirodeandrade.com/

(press here to see the site in English)
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Prevention - brushing

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· First, use a mouthwash;
· Then pass the wire / dental tape (at least once a day);
· Use a fluoridated toothpaste;
· Must be completed within 15 minutes after each meal;
· Must be made ​​in the morning (when standing) and evening (at bedtime);
· The brush should be medium or soft, never hard, and be replaced in a month and a half month and a half, or at most, every three months;
· Going through all surfaces of the teeth;
· Keep your teeth clean especially near the gum line, preventing plaque and tartar.

Prevention - Habits and precautions with
temporary teeth (milk)

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· Remember that your child likes to play with the brush but can not really clean teeth. Brushing, to be successful, needs to be made with a control of fine movements, which usually arises in children at around age 7 or 8, when it learns to write and develop dexterity in their hands;
· Brush the stand, lie down and after meals;
· Limit snacks between meals, especially with food and / or sugary drinks;
· Avoid carbonated beverages, because they cause erosion of teeth;
· Beware of food adhesives, since the more most cariogenic adhesives (eg caramels, candies, ...);
· Take care to explain to the child that should not ingest the toothpaste;
· Use a small amount of toothpaste when brushing (lead by the size of the nail of the little finger);
· The brush filaments must meet the multifaceted dental, performing rotational movements smooth;
· Apply fluoride in children of 6 in 6 months and use a fluoride toothpaste daily.

prevention - other councils

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· Visit the dentist regularly (at least once a year);
· Eating a balanced diet and replace sweets for more nutritious foods such as cheese, fruit or vegetables;
· Prevent the child has the habit of thumb sucking: may cause problems in the positioning of the teeth and jaw growth;
· Avoid smoking;
· Seal all teeth having grooves or cracks, whether temporary, whether permanent (applying a resin layer on the surface of the tooth chewing, protecting it from bacterial attacks). 80% of caries and cracks arise in the grooves and only 20% occur on smooth surfaces. Fluoride acts only against smooth surfaces, which means that only protects 20% of cavities.

 

519. Health education: fact or fiction in Portugal?

 

http://www.cdc.gov/spanish/especialesCDC/SaludEscolar/

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Any modern education system and efficient support is also an effective school health system. The example shown in the figure refers to the United States.
By contrast, in Portugal, most children and adolescents never have any kind of support in terms of health education, and much less in terms of oral health. All that is done in some schools results from the bigotry of some teachers.
Thus the fate traced to current generations who attend primary and secondary schools in Portugal.