One in five teens do not brush your teeth every day, and the boys the most careless, according to a study at the Faculty of Medicine of Porto University and the School of Health of Viseu. The same study indicates that only one quarter of young people brush their teeth twice or more daily and that the habit is related to the educational level of parents.
Just over one percent met all the requirements for an adequate oral health - brushing twice or more per day, use of dental floss and visit the dentist two or more times per year. The sample investigated was seven thousand young people aged between 12 and 18 years of public schools in the district of Viseu, who were asked about oral hygiene habits and socioeconomic conditions. The survey found that girls more often brush teeth, use dental floss more often and go more for dental consultations.
Nélio Veiga, author of the paper admitted that the frequency of cleaning teeth is related to the educational level of parents. The more educated parents are, the greater the likelihood of young brush their teeth twice or more a day, following clinical recommendations, he noted. The area of residence also influences, as teenagers in urban areas showed a higher prevalence of brushing compared to those living in rural areas.
About flossing, only 4.4 percent said they use it, while more than half of the sample guaranteed to have a dentist in the previous year. But 13 percent of youth reported ever having been to a query. Of those who were consulted by a specialist in dentistry, half went to a dentist for routine visits, 28 percent due to pain and 22 percent because of other problems.
The researcher expressed concern that a high proportion of teenagers go to the doctor only when they have toothaches. In Portugal, registered inequalities in access to oral health care of populations are evident, resulting from the fact that, mostly, be exercised in the private sector, conditioning the access of the disadvantaged by lack of financial resources, the investigator also noted.
* * *
This is the reality of the oral health of children and young people in Portugal. If someone says there is still excess of dentists in our country, this chronicle indicates that the hundreds of thousands of children and youth continue to be marginalized in access to oral health care.
After all, what good oral health departments in the Directorate - General for Health, what is school health, finally, what are the professional associations related to oral health? What is the purpose that the Ministry of Health and Education intend to address this situation?
A genuine shame by those who should at least comply with and enforce the Universal Declaration of the Rights of the Child.
No comments:
Post a Comment