690. PORTUGAL: Most adolescents do not use dental checks

Since its launch in 2008, the dental checks program has already reached about two and a half million people. But according to the Público newspaper, which cites data from the OMD, in the younger population the program has not yet had a major impact, with only 38% of 16 year-olds reporting that they used these checks and 43% of 18-year-olds.According to the head of the Dentists Association, Orlando Monteiro da Silva, the condition may be that, in both groups, the checks must be issued by the health centers, at the request of the interested party or at the initiative of the physician. family. As this extension of the program to these two age groups has been little publicized, there are still few users.According to data from the OMD, between January and September 2016, about 227 thousand people used the dental checks, an utilization rate of 83%. Children and young people aged 7, 10 and 13 are the ones who enjoy the most of this possibility (92% of the total).

Saude Oral SO 

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ORAL HEALTH has already proven that the dental check does not meet the needs of the country 's children and youth. The news reports that young people with access to the dental check are very small, and only children with 7, 10 and 13 years old can have access to oral health care. Governments change, promises arise but competent entities do not respond to the needs of the overwhelming majority of children and young people.

Portugal remains a country where official entities continue to deny access to oral health care to the majority of children and young people, with the convenience of multiple stakeholders who persist in failing to solve the problem.