673. In Portugal, half of the elderly population does not have a single tooth

The data are from the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Mundo a Sorrir, within the scope of the Door-in-Door Smiles project which, for about four years, promoted the improvement of oral health indexes. This project helped to reduce the risk of periodontal infections and oral pathologies, as well as the prevention of infections or diseases associated with dental prostheses in the elderly. The project was innovative in Portugal and Europe, was born in Porto in 2012 and joins the new Porto4Ageing consortium, created under the recent application of the Porto region to the classification of European Reference Site in the Area of Active and Healthy Aging.

According to the dentist, founder of the NGO Mundo a Sorrir, Miguel Pavão, the great majority of the population believes that tooth loss is a natural and inevitable consequence of age, a misconception that derives from the examples we have of elderly relatives and friends . The main causes for this phenomenon are the culmination of little investment in oral health and health, associated with a reduced oral hygiene care routine. Miguel Pavão also says that oral health in the elderly is a neglected problem that negatively influences the quality of life of the elderly and has negative repercussions on general health. It is clear that poor oral health has consequences in interpersonal relationships. People with a healthy mouth are people with a higher self esteem. That is why projects such as Door-to-Door Smiles are so necessary and we must continue to bet on this target population, since the more than 15,000 beneficiaries and 300 institutions covered by the project demonstrate that we can not stop and, in this sense, we are preparing A new application for this purpose.

Through a preventive and formative approach, the project aimed at raising awareness and awareness that aging does not mean a decrease in well-being. Miguel Pavão explains that oral health in the third age consists of maintaining healthy teeth and adjacent structures, maintaining health, function and esthetics in their fullness and that provides well-being and quality of life to the individual. These objectives were achieved through health promotion actions, oral screening for the elderly, training of professionals, referral for interventions, monitoring of injuries and fitting of prostheses, among others.

In 2012, the Smiles Door-to-Door Project received the 1st Place in the CIS-Porto award, after its implementation in Porto. A year later, in 2013, Mundo a Sorrir expanded the project to mainland Portugal, having been awarded the 1st place in the BPI Seniors award. In 2014, it received support from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and the company VOCO GmbH.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that, by 2025, the age group comprising individuals aged 65 and over is the one with the highest growth. WHO also warns that millions of elderly people around the world are not receiving the oral care they need due to the lack of awareness of governments about this problem.

O JornalDentistry