683. Dentists seek career in SNS within one year

By day 250 users are having consultations in health centers. There are those who have never been to a dentist for lack of money. The head of the Dental Physicians' Order hopes that within a year the Ministry of Health will have created the career that integrates these professionals into the National Health Service (SNS), giving rules and an equal salary scale for all. The pilot project, created by the Ministry of Health, started at the beginning of the month in 13 health centers in the areas of Lisbon and Vale do Tejo and Alentejo. By day, there are 250 users with consultation, paying seven euros of moderating fee.

If the ministry intends to have dentists to practice in the SNS, whether in health centers or hospitals, given the specificity of the profession, it must create a career as a dentist. The commitment to the sustainability of the SNS begins the process. Evaluation of the pilot experience will allow steps to be taken in this direction. I hope it will be there in a year, said Dr. Orlando Monteiro da Silva, a member of the Dentistry Department.
The issue has already been discussed with the ministry and the Order, it is fundamental that the future career guarantee the independence of the dentist, continuing education, teamwork, suitability of services, equal pay grids for all that reference the gross salary of a doctor Senior assistant. The reference of the 13 new dentists of the SNS is the career of technician of superior health, with a gross salary to be around the 1500 euros. But the few who were already in the SNS receive less.
The president of the dental doctors' order believes that this is a historic step and that the trend will be to extend the project. The Ministry of Health explains that the expansion to other health centers is planned, but that the number and approach of the process is dependent on the evaluations that are carried out. The project will be evaluated in several phases, the first in early 2017.

Ana Filipa Neto is the dentist of the Monte da Caparica Family Health Unit, one of the health centers with a pilot project. There is no doubt about the success of the measure. When they arrive at the reception they tell how it went well, that it did not give anything. Some say that it was the first time they went to the dentist because they had no economic conditions, others because they had several complications, and the private clinics did not take care of them for fear, he says.
The users who attend, every day of the week between 8.00 and 18.00, are referenced by family doctors. When the assistant calls them they are very happy and say they have been waiting for this for a long time. The project comes to give oral health care to the chronically ill: people with diabetes, cancer, kidney, respiratory or cardiac diseases.

Ana's work begins with the question if she has complaints or toothaches, an x-ray is made, the diagnosis and the action plan are drawn. A work in partnership with other doctors as cardiologists, when in case of surgery it is necessary to review the medication that the patient already does. Many are excited when I ask if we can start treatment at the first appointment. We feel every day that we are helping people, she recalls, recalling one of the stories that has affected her the most: A woman in her 50s, who had several health problems, had radiation therapy, can never go to the dentist for lack Conditions. I had an infection, we treated the teeth on the left side. I wanted to prescribe acetaminophen and told me it was not worth it because I could not afford it.For the medical dentist, it makes sense to extend this offer to the entire population in the future. You need to integrate more dentists. If that happens, I'm very happy. It is not just patients at risk who need care. It's the whole population, he says.

Ana Maia

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