Following a meeting with the Minister of Health, Ana Paula Martins, in Lisbon, Miguel Pavão emphasized the necessity of securing specific funding for oral health with a robust allocation for the public, social, and private sectors.
The chairman called for enhanced support for dental offices within primary healthcare, ensuring the integration of dental professionals into the National Health System.
“The current situation is challenging: newly equipped dental offices, under the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), are not operational because there is no model to properly integrate dental professionals,” he warned.
Miguel Pavão advocated for valuing the career path as a solution, citing Madeira as an example where dental professionals have their own career path and are integrated into the regional health system.
The organization expressed readiness to collaborate in launching the Electronic Oral Health Individual Bulletin, part of the Government’s action program, which has already received approval from the Shared Services of the Ministry of Health (SPMS). They also proposed a reformulation of the Dentist Check program, introducing new checks for rehabilitation, prosthetics, and trauma.
According to the chairman, Ana Paula Martins expressed the Government’s intent to establish a network of oral health clinics, although lamenting the lack of details about the operational model.
He reiterated that without a clear budget increase, these measures cannot be implemented.
“Investing in oral health is not a cost, it is, above all, an intelligent political choice that brings returns. It brings returns through prevention, reduces emergency visits, hospitalizations, and the burden of diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. This is what we want: to improve the quality of life for the Portuguese, making oral health a right,” he emphasized.
Reaffirming its willingness to collaborate with the Government in building an inclusive and sustainable national strategy, the OMD highlighted that over six million Portuguese people face dental problems.
