649. Mission Oral Health: Portuguese Children do not make proper oral hygiene

Within the Mission Oral Health, a partnership between Colgate and the Portuguese Association of Oral Hygienists, Colgate conducted a survey which reveals that Portuguese children do not have a proper oral hygiene routine. The survey was conducted on a sample of 500 Portuguese women with one or more children, aged between 2 and 7 years.

The findings show that many children do not properly brush their teeth, resulting in a depletion of the oral health of the Portuguese child population. Moreover, globally parents reveal difficulty in getting the children to do the correct tooth brushing and in terms of time devoted to oral hygiene, both the form and scope of the wash.

The results also indicate that 31.4% of mothers surveyed revealed that have some or much difficulty in making their children wash their teeth regularly and almost half (47.6%) reported that their children do not brush their teeth for a sufficient time. About 40% of children just brush the front teeth and more than 12% of the children of the respondents already had one or more teeth extracted.

The mothers questioned also believe that children's oral hygiene habits are directly associated with the example set by parents, so almost 55% of mothers say brushing your teeth while the kids to set a good example.

According to Carlos Pereira, dental hygienist and responsible for Relations Professionals Colgate in Portugal, it is very important to prevent oral diseases. With simple acts of prevention, which must be daily and shared with the family, we keep our oral health for life. It is important to teach children early to the oral hygiene care correct. Parents should start by giving an example: take good care of your own teeth conveys the idea that oral health is something to cherish. To facilitate the acquisition of teeth washing habit (essential to good oral health), parents can try for example to make this moment a joke. Instill in our children a good oral hygiene routine from childhood is an investment in the health of children with visible results in the future.

Ana Rita Costa

Saúde Oral - Revista Profissional de Estomatologia e Medicina Dentária

    

648. ACCESS TO CARE DENTAL: Portuguese are the most complainers

The OECD report - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development - "Health at a Glance - Europe 2014" (PDF) released this week reveals that the Portuguese are the Europeans who most complain of unmet dental care needs.
Among the 35 countries analyzed in the report, including all member states of the European Union, and in relation to complaints about oral health care, along with Portugal are countries like Romania, Bulgaria and Italy. The OECD also points out in its report inequalities, including in Portugal, access to oral health care among the highest social classes and lower.

Ordem dos Médicos Dentistas

647. Dentist will treat the elderly at home

The initiative was the idea that anyone who is bedridden with little physical mobility or dependent on others, you need a good oral hygiene to achieve better health. It was precisely this thought of Sonia Santos, medical dentist working in the areas of Peso da Régua and Vila Real, Tras-os-Montes. The project is unique in the country and, for now, the dentist makes consultations at home only in these areas and that type of users.For years, consultations were free. About three years ago, Sonia began to charge the same as a query in clinics where she works: 80 euros. But journeys at home are still not charged. A small case that fits in a kind of air bag is brought home to the users. These people who are bedridden, it is easier to have someone to care for them for basic care than oral hygiene because it is always a more personal area. These people start to have plaque, tartar, cavities. They are suffering. Stop eating. To be a full physical health, we must address the oral health, explains Sonia Santos.

Consultation at home is almost equal to what is done at the clinic. Three years ago we do all kinds of home service: facelifts, cleanings, extractions. Only place implants and advanced surgery is that it is impossible to do at home, said.There were two cases that marked this medical dentist. The first patient who attended was morbidly obese and was bedridden. I could not do anything when I got there. It was treated and only past eight days is to gather all that was possible and went to her house. Shocked me because there are people who die with the wrong infection and she was in that situation, recalls Sonia Santos. The other case was a boy of nine, paraplegic, who made a tooth extraction. It went well, he says.According to the doctor, are the users themselves and the families of those who call for it to be done the treatment at home. They do not see it as a luxury, but as a help, since many can not afford to take them to the office nearest dentistry.

Ana Sofia Coelho

Correio da Manhã

 

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