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.