530. Couple of foreign doctors who cared dentists

Before they were three, now there are five. Five medical clinics in Tavira, Faro, Olhão, Estoi and Tunes, operating in conditions apparently legal. Three of them were closed down on November 16 after a joint operation of the Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras, with the presence of the Authority of Public Health, the Medical and Dental Association. But however, upon further inspection of the health authorities, the Express found that on-site clinics have been reopened and the owners - he dentist, her medical cardiologist - until now opened two more in Estoi and Tunes.

According to the indictment the prosecutor of Olhão, the couple has yet to respond to moral judgment authored by the other two, the continuing crime of usurpation of functions and of falsifying documents relating to the coverage given to Brazilian immigrants who worked in the clinics and dentists revenue and spent on behalf of the owner. Were not entered in the Order nor had work visas legalized in Portugal.

On the other hand, ensures that the Order has referred the case to the Board since November Conduct and Discipline of OMD on this caso.Iremos ask the Health Regulatory Authority (ERS) to identify their clinical bodies, including the directors responsible for the clinical operation of clinics, adds Orlando Monteiro.

Expresso newspaper (April 13, 2011)

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These situations should be severely punished and the Order of Dentists must urgently establish partnerships with foreign professional associations, notably in Brazil, in order to regulate the entry into Portugal of highly qualified professionals in oral health.

Moreover, it is the obligation of the Portuguese authorities to ensure all conditions to ensure the full integration of immigrants who choose our country to live and work without any kind of discrimination.

529. Free dental screening allows treatment to needy children

Ten children's Shelter of Santa Casa da Misericordia of Caldas da Rainha done in the past day six dental screening. Of these ten children six were flagged for having serious health problems oral and will be followed by a dentist in town, who will perform the treatment for free and voluntary.

The screening was performed by two dentists - Luís Felipe and Fernando Augusto Podesta, the association of Turma do Bem, who moved to the Junta de Freguesia de Nossa Senhora do Pópulo to promote this activity. Typically this screening is done in schools or institutions but here in Caldas da Rainha unable to open any school, Fernando Augusto said. He added that, due to limited disclosure, not entered any young to be screened at the Board during the day but then got permission to change the screening facilities for the Welcome Center, Santa Casa da Misericordia of Caldas da Rainha and eventually the initiative be positive.

The Turma do Bem, an association that has existed for many years in Brazil, helping children and youth to recover the smile, and arrived in Portugal in 2009, having already won the sympathy of many dentists who joined the project. Their existence in this country is made possible through a partnership with the Fundação EDP, and the project has already helped more than 100 teenagers from 11 to 18 years, need, raising to its network of Dentistas do Bem about 140 volunteer professionals.

Young people who are most in need screening and dental problems present with severe symptoms of infection, pain or tenderness are then forwarded to a volunteer dentist who does all the free treatment and is responsible for monitoring the recipient until he turns 18. Regarding the dentists of Caldas da Rainha, the project was well accepted for its network raising five professional volunteers who created the city ten vacancies. Escalated six young, so we still have four vacancies to fill, pointed this charge.

According to Fernando Augusto, like Brazil, Portugal also has problems with oral diseases such as caries, gingivitis and orthodontic problems. Approximately 60% of young people up to 14 years and have never been to the dentist with only 15, a young person has committed 70% of the teeth and dental problems presents with severe symptoms of infection, pain or tenderness, released the dentist. 

Combining free treatment to education and information about oral hygiene, the aim is also, according to the dentist, help to increase the self-esteem of these young people and their employability, since poor oral health is a factor of exclusion.

Portugal was the first European country to host the project conceived and founded by Brazilian Fábio Bibancos dentist, as co-producer with the Fundação EDP. Currently there are over 8,000 of Dentistas do Bem in Brazil, Portugal and 9 Latin American countries (Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela and Mexico). Only in 2010 these volunteers responded in their own clinics more than 16 000 young people worldwide.

Marlene Sousa 

Jornal das Caldas

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Unfortunately the good initiatives in Portugal have to come from abroad; praises the project's Turma do Bem. But it is extremely shameful that EDP for Portugal, with revenues of tens of billions of euros each year, contributing to treat only 100 children if this is the social mission of EDP, then we conversed.

MESSAGE PLACED IN THE COMMENTS: It is not true that good initiatives have to come from outside! In Portugal there is good supportive projects such as Projecto Dentes Saudáveis do Dr. Risadas da Associação Entreajuda, has also the many projects of the NGO Portuguese Mundo a Sorrir, the draft of the Legião da Boa Vontade and many other smaller, but very well done.
What is needed is to know the reason of EDP support and travel costs to import projects from the outside, when in Portugal should be supported many good practices!

528. A (low) oral health in the Azores

2011: Azores are at the forefront of public oral health across the country - The Regional Secretary for Health (...) that the Regional Government pioneered the decision to place dentists at health centers, where today 17 professionals working in this specialty (see here);

2005: Of the current 71 dentists who carry on business in the Azores, 56 opted for private practice and only 15 are attached to the Regional Health Service (see here)

527. The oral health reflects the state of the country

The bailout request from Portugal international institutions reflects the dire state of the public accounts of the country, where they spend excessively more than is produced as a result of disastrous economic policies followed by the two main parties that ruled Portugal in the last thirty years (Party socialist and Social Democratic Party), with the connivance of blatant indirect and current President of the Republic, who left the country to the brink of bankruptcy. These two parties have become the main focus that undermined the national economy, by creating holes devastating national accounts to bet on a model of unsustainable economic growth, applying the main national resources on non-productive investments, increasing the weight of the state in the economy and accentuating a vast web of patronage and corruption, in the exercise of public office, leaving Portugal to live, often at the expense of dividends input from the European Union.

The state apparatus is now a very heavy machine, which has grown exponentially and today that drowns most of our resources, affecting strongly the development process of any country, everything is controlled by the government, bureaucratic and produces no wealth. Public bodies, both belonging to the central government as belonging to local government entities are mostly serving, first, to ensure employment to friends and friends of friends of political power, often without any merit for the performance of functions so that people are named (with few exceptions), after the patent on electoral events. Thus, the state is composed mainly of people who produce no wealth for the country, representing the main factor of economic stagnation and retrogression.

Within the central public administration, and in particular the Ministry of Health, today witnessed the most barbaric attacks to the ideals of the spirit of the Revolution of April 25, 1974, dismantling health services and transferring part of the sector to private, razing access to health care to needy populations and particularly outside major urban centers. However, the Ministry of Health does nothing to dramatically reduce their unnecessary expenses, including cutting its staff in almost anything that produces and serves only to receive salaries at the end of each month. The development of information technologies and communication seem to take ages to reach many administrative sectors of the Ministry of Health: automatic processes that lead and five minutes by a technician perform administrative authority may still take several days or weeks to be performed by dozens employees generally incompetent to their respective positions (unless otherwise rare exceptions). Thus, certain offices and staffs of the Ministry of Health employ wide human resources produce little or nothing, representing a huge financial burden for the Ministry of Health and supported by those who actually produce wealth in Portugal, all these people should be recycled and put into functions really productive and financial resources for the valences removed entirely necessary, particularly for the essential, that is, made ​​available to the population, in the form of medical care.

In oral health, the country has steadily recede over the last few years, so much so that this year there is one vacancy for the training of doctors dentists, so within a few short years, we will have to go abroad to get going a dental consultation. There is no guideline for the sector up and bought the silence of certain sectors of the oral health check - dentists, public health fraud that still nobody could explain why it has certain value and can only be obtained at certain ages, as oral health had the privilege to be specific only be required at a certain date pre - established, however, certain offices of the Ministry of health sink in study after study that, once completed, are stored in drawers and not good for anything, except to justify another investment that no one knows who served.

Whenever an external entity willing support, the Ministry of Health lends itself to collaborate in promoting oral health of the Portuguese, contributing leaflets about everything and anything, however, and unless such situations merely precise and waste, nobody heard in Portugal in promoting oral health screenings in schools and forwarding all problematic situations for treatment with the family physician, knowing that prevention can save you now, according to experts, nearly 30 000 euros per person.

Finally, oral health reflects the state of the country, drifting, dying, managed by politicians and rulers who are much to be desired as citizens of goods and administrators of public causes.    

526. Algarve: seven dentists three clinics in Olhão, Loulé and Tavira defendants for illegal immigration

The Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras (SEF) announced today that seven foreign dentists working in Portugal were made ​​defendants for the crime of assisting illegal immigration and raising hand labor illegal.

Two of the defendants were in term of identity and residence, are forbidden to leave the country and have them applied collateral 30,000 and 17,500 euros. The charges were based on a SEF operation in three dental clinics in Olhão, Loulé and Tavira and the homes of the defendants, who were accused of seven offenses of aiding illegal immigration, seven-raising hand labor illegal, an extortion, a continued falsification of documents and a continuous crime of corruption of food or medicine.

Observatório do Algarve 

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I congratulate the Portuguese authorities and the Order of Dentists; need greater oversight of activities related to dentistry in our country, to ensure absolute security and assurance of medical care to all patients. Criminals who want to serve their sentences in full and those who are aliens should be required to leave the country later.

It is very urgent that the Order of Dentists establish partnerships with their foreign counterparts to regulate the entry of foreign dentists in our country.  

525. LISBON: free dental screening for young

The Museum of Electricity hosts, on the 9th of April, between 14:00 and 17:30, a dental screening totally free and open access to young students aged between 11 and 17 years. This is an initiative spurred by the Non Governmental Organization Turma do Bem.

More than 50 volunteers (dentists and dental students), as well as the founder of the Non Governmental Ornanização and Fábio Bibancos dentist will be present in the action, where children will be observed associations linked to the Greater Lisbon and other young people with oral problems considered serious.

During the first year of existence in Portugal, the project of Dentistas do Bem already helped more than 100 children in need with support from about 140 volunteer professionals. All treatments provided are free and each volunteer is responsible for monitoring each child up to his 18 years.

Combining free treatment to education and information about oral hygiene, it is intended to also help boost self-esteem of these young people and their employability, since poor oral health is an exclusion factor.

Portugal was the first European country to host the project conceived and founded by brazilian Fábio Bibancos dentist, having co-founded the Foundation EDP.

Boas Notícias

524. Organizations launch campaign for Oral Health

A group of seven organizations launched a campaign for Oral Health that aims to correct inequities and promote equal access to dental services.

The Portuguese Association World Smiling is one of the signatories of the campaign that is being represented by the Spanish authority in dentistry Ilustre Colégio Oficial de Odontólogos y Estomatólogos da I Região.

This campaign aims to healthcare professionals, organizations and responsible elements of public and private entities come together and take responsibility for initiatives of cooperation and partnership, in order to reduce the differences in the populations in terms of oral health, refers to the World Smile.

The campaign says that there is a need for partnerships between different actors operating in the health sector in general, and in particular dental. We consider imperative that there is a commitment from both public institutions, private institutions like [to promote equal access to health], as well as the role that universities should take to foster a strong awareness of civil society.

We also understand our responsibility as the spread of awareness that solidarity between each of the health professionals as part of the main social force that must persuade the public and private institutions. Vehemently declare that no human being should see themselves excluded from access to health services, including oral health, economic or social reasons, the statement said.

Saúde Oral - Revista Profissional de Estomatologia e Medicina Dentária  

523. Screening for oral cancer led to the population of Porto

The Customs building will receive tomorrow, Thursday, the first free oral cancer screening led to the population of Porto. A pioneering initiative, promoted by the Group CESPU - Cooperative Higher Polytechnic and University, which could serve as a model for future public actions in the fight against oral cancer. The screening, which takes place between 10.00 and 17.00, consists of a detailed clinical examination completely painless, and will count on the presence of one of the greatest international experts in this area, also a director of the World Health Organization (WHO).

In Europe, Portugal and Spain are at the forefront of the incidence of oral cancer. According to the latest figures available, in 2008, estimated to have occurred in 1025 new cases of oral cavity cancer in our country. These numbers make us fret and stimulate, to perform and promote initiatives aimed at the population in order to reverse these results, defends Luís Monteiro, dentist New Health Network and Professor of Oral Pathology Group CESPU. The more so, he adds, that much is detected late and more than half die of oral cancer after five years.

With prevention as a priority area to intervene, the Group CESPU through the New Health Network, will promote this Thursday, March 31, at the Customs building, the first free screening led to the population of Porto. The CESPU pioneered in providing these screenings to the public. In 2010, we started making oral cancer screenings, along with the Hospital Nossa Senhora da Conceição and Municipality of Maia, the population of Valongo. In 2011, let's keep this type of initiative, now promoting a mega-screening in the city center of Porto, explains Luis Monteiro.

In a survey conducted between February and March this year to 501 clients attending outpatient Hospital Nossa Senhora da Conceição de Valongo, concluded that 98.5 percent of respondents never made ​​any oral cancer screening. This is a scenario that ought to be changed. Education campaigns should be established to allow information about oral cancer and motivate people to protect themselves against this disease, warns Luis Monteiro. Because, according to this study, knowledge of oral cancer in the population surveyed revealed to be poor, with most respondents admit to never having heard of oral cancer. Interestingly, this was the type of cancer that less and less known that pancreatic cancer, with an incidence much lower than oral cancer.

Tracing the Customs Port will take place between 10.00 and 17.00 and will consist of a detailed clinical examination completely painless and a teaching session and guidance on oral cancer, involving teachers and students of Dental Medicine CESPU, coordinated by British Saman Warnakulasuryia, the specialist who has performed more screening of oral cancer in the world, and even the WHO advisor in this area.

Information received email.