To have a dental chair in each of the Algarve Health Centers by the end of 2019. This is the objective of the Regional Health Administration of the Algarve, which is collaborating with the Municipal Councils in the region in order to guarantee dental appointments in the public sector .
«Right now there are five dentist chairs in operation in the Algarve. The ones that were installed most recently are the two we visited today, in Lagos and Loulé, which came into operation in September 2018. Still in the first quarter of 2019 we will open the Vila Real de Santo António and we want to, by the end of the year , to have at least one dentist's chair in every municipality in the Algarve», revealed Paulo Morgado, president of the Algarve ARS, on the sidelines of a visit to the Loulé Health Centre.
Paulo Morgado was one of the elements of the ARS who accompanied the Secretary of State for Health Raquel Duarte, on a visit that the official made today to the Algarve, to learn about the progress of the implementation of the National Program for the Promotion of Oral Health in the region and to have a meeting working with emergency room professionals at the Hospital de Faro.
On the sidelines of the visit, the president of ARS do Algarve told journalists that he was confident that, by the end of the year, "a coverage that, if not total, will be almost" of dentists' chairs, will be achieved in the region.
For this, it counts on the help of the Algarve Chambers. In Lagos and Loulé, this response in terms of oral health was installed with the financial support of the respective municipalities. And there are more municipalities willing to open the purse strings, to facilitate the installation of this valence.
«In Silves the protocol will soon be held at the Chamber Meeting and Aljezur has also made it known that he wants to sign the protocol. We have practically all the municipalities in the Algarve in this project», said Paulo Morgado.
“What we are asking the Chambers is to give us financial support in order to acquire some of the necessary equipment. It does not cover the entire investment, such as consumables and professionals, which are the responsibility of the Regional Health Administration. Basically, we ask you to help us in the initial phase with a subsidy for the acquisition of material», he added.
The Secretary of State for Health considered that «opening dental chairs in the Health Centers is very important. It is frightening the number of people we see in these consultations who have never been to the dentist or had any care in terms of oral health».
Although the creation of dental practices in the National Health Service started in 2016 and has been expanding since then, there are still many people who do not know that this answer exists.
The fact that a very significant part of the population is unaware that there are dentist appointments at the Health Centers was, moreover, highlighted by the Order of Dentists, following the latest National Oral Health Barometer.
“Many people don't know and the media has a fundamental role. If there is a chair in health centers, it is easier for the population to remember. But we cannot forget that we come from years when oral health was not a concern», considered Raquel Duarte.
“What we are doing is opening the chairs and offering the dentist's checks. But what we found is that, despite everything, the responsiveness is far from exhausted. When passing these offices, we see that there is still a great capacity for response that is not being used», he added.
ensure there is love Lóleo to sit in the NHS dentist's chairs is a job that goes, to a large extent, to Family Doctors, who are responsible for referring their users to this service.
«If an oral health problem is detected, the GP will refer it to the dentist at his Health Center. There is also the possibility, in case of something very urgent, that the user can go directly to the office, which will certainly he will not see the service refused», explained Paulo Morgado.
If everything goes as expected by ARS do Algarve, this practice could soon be a reality in all Health Centers in the Algarve.
Photos: Hugo Rodrigues|Sul Informação
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