The acting Minister of Health, Consumption and Social Welfare, María Luisa Carcedo, announced that "the Government intends to move forward with care and progressively in the introduction of oral health services and benefits in the National Health System".
Carcedo has closed the spring day of the Alliance for a caries-free future, organized by the Spanish Society of Epidemiology and Oral Public Health and has had the participation of the General Council of Dentists of Spain.
"Poor oral health is related to certain chronic diseases such as diabetes, obesity or gingivitis, which makes oral health an essential indicator to measure the quality of life of the population," he explained.
Carcedo has highlighted the progress made in recent decades thanks to the increased awareness of the public, the response of the health authorities – inside and outside the National Health System – and "the good work of the professionals of dentistry and the Stomatology ".
The minister has shown her commitment to continue advancing in the prevention of caries, the most common chronic disease. This dental pathology is associated with the lack of prevention and unhealthy behaviors, such as eating with sugars, which affects more vulnerable populations.
"The benefits of preventing cavities are much greater than the costs of their treatment," said Carcedo. "They are particularly evident in EU countries such as Denmark and Sweden, where in recent decades there has been investment in providing prevention services and the prevalence of dental diseases has been significantly reduced," he explained.
Thus, in Denmark, between 1974 and 2000, the index that measures the incidence of caries, decreased by 78% among children of 12 years. In Spain, the same index fell from 4.2% in 1984 to 1.3% in 2005.