According to data from the Portuguese Dental Association Oral Health Scale, in 2021 the Portuguese population reduced the number of dentist visits by 17%, compared to 2019.
If we consider that one in three Portuguese never visits a dentist or does so only in an emergency, that is, due to financial constraints, then this determines the lack of a basic public health response that has been exacerbated by the pandemic. Again, the poor are the hardest hit.
The National Oral Health Promotion Program provided prevention of oral diseases and through dental checkups, treatments were ensured for the most vulnerable groups. However, most citizens with economic hardship remain denied access.
The state has the responsibility to implement policies that promote cohesion and reduce inequality. Oral health is not a luxury, but a basic need.
In this sense, in 2016, the Ministry of Health, with the support of the Portuguese Dental Association, decided to train the SNS to respond to the most pressing needs, globally, through equality and proximity appreciation. A strategy is designed to integrate dentists’ clinics with health centers. The plan, which was being implemented gradually, projected until 2020 to extend this response to all municipalities.
The ambition to have a dentist in all the municipalities was possible, due to the unprecedented support from the municipalities, united in a clear goal: for the first time, to integrate oral health into the SNS, 38 years after its creation, to democratize access and to achieve a national goal.
For this project to be sustainable, the most important factor has always been human resources. Distinguished dentists trained in Portugal have access to career and professional development aimed at defending quality. In this sense, a logical and balanced proposal has been prepared.
Unfortunately, after four years, the number of oral health offices is less than half of what was expected (there will be 140, while 289 were planned in 2020) and 80% of dentists are working on green receipts. The profession was not created, the model was not implemented.
While the password seems to be ending with doctors working on the NHS, dentistry has been forgotten. The passion for the “Oral Health for All” project has disappeared. What remains is a resignation to exclude the most disadvantaged groups.
* Chairman of the Board of Directors of Centro Hospitalar Universitário de S. João
“Writer. Analyst. Avid travel maven. Devoted twitter guru. Unapologetic pop culture expert. General zombie enthusiast.”
