Dentist’s Day: the keys to preventing cavities and taking care of your oral health | The School of Dentistry offers 24 hour care at affordable prices

Brushing, a healthy diet, and regular check-ups are the three basic recommendations dentists make for maintaining good oral health. Although it seems so simple, the famous cavities and gum disease are the most common diseases in humans. To the absence of prevention campaigns is added the fear of the dentist and the confinement and the pandemic which have pushed many to postpone the consultation.

“Latinos we are difficult for prevention, in all branches of medical science. As a society, we are not very inclined to prevention in oral health and we lack good campaigns in this area ”, recognizes Pablo Rodríguez, dean of the Faculty of Dentistry at UBA, who on the day of dentist reviews the challenges they have for dentists today.

Dentists have their day on October 3 because on that date, in 1917, the Latin American Dental Federation (FOLA) was formed. The first challenge they had in the midst of the pandemic was not to take their attention away, Rodríguez says, although he acknowledges that consultations have contracted a lot, especially in the first year of the pandemic. “In relation to the mouth Anything that suspends or delays treatment worsens the course. Always letting time pass is worse ”, explains the dentist about what 2020 meant as“ a contained demand ”.

In this sense, Rodríguez pointed out that contagions of covid-19 in the doctor’s office were very low. This is due to the application of protocols, above all, the personal care of dentists with the use of a chin strap and a protective mask. “The first challenge we had with the pandemic was to keep working, not having taken our attention away all last year was a great achievement. The challenge we have now is to maintain the protocols and the use of the protective elements. Don’t relax ”, adds.

The reactivation of demand also brought good news for the service open to the general public offered by the Faculty of Dentistry: care this year is above the annual patient average which are generally among all services. The prestige of the UBA, no doubt, may be one of the reasons for this growth, says Rodríguez, although he also believes that many patients come to the UBA. not finding an answer in social works or in private.

“People have a lot of confidence in the structure of the faculty, they have a lot of confidence in our knowledge,” notes the dean, who at the same time notes another trend that we observe among dentists: many are leaving the beginnings of prepaid drugs and social works to move into the world of private care.

There are “Mismatch between the supplier and the borrower”, Rodríguez explains the dollar cost of most supplies and the peso cap paid by health providers. This disconnection leads many dentists to give up the cards.

How to get treatment at the School Hospital of the Faculty of Dentistry

The Faculty of Dentistry offers a guard service, open 24 hours a day, every day of the year, and scheduled consultations on all care services. It also provides imaging services, whether they are x-rays or CT scans.

“To enter the care circuit, you have to go through the On-call and patient referral service. There we take a panoramic x-ray, which is like a map of the mouth, and from there we tell the patient which departments to go through, ”Rodríguez explains of the dynamics of care.

The first consultation is requested from In person at Marcelo T. de Alvear 2142. Attention is paid, at affordable prices. Those who attend are graduate dentists, students are usually assistants or assistants.

The CHU has 17 floors, 14 of which are dedicated to care. In each there is a different service where the patient can be referred depending on the diagnosis and treatment to be followed.

This year, the faculty added WhatsApp numbers by service to facilitate communication between professionals and patients. Each specialty has a hotline where inquiries can be made.

Recommendations for oral health care

The dean recalled what are the three basic care measures that must be maintained to prevent complications in the mouth:

1. Brush your teeth three times a day. After breakfast, lunch and dinner.
2. Wear one eat healthy and avoid prolonged consumption of sugar throughout the day. In this sense, it is preferable, explains Rodríguez, the “sweet moment”. It is about concentrating the consumption of sweets on a single moment of the day. “Si estamos comiendo caramelos durante todo el día modificamos el PH de la saliva y eso lleva a la proliferación de bacteria”, plantea el odontólogo, que recomienda a modo de ejemplo comer esa misma cantidad de dulce en un único momento del dse y después the teeth.
3. Annual or semi-annual periodic check-up depending on the type of risk presented by the patient. “The dentist not only checks the teeth and gums, he also checks for soft tissue damage, which can be indicators of other pathologies,” recalls Rodríguez, who encourages people to lose. their fear of the dentist.