Yesterday I was interviewed by Diário de Notícias [Portuguese Newspaper] about a very important matter: the inclusion of Dentistry in the National Healthcare System. This is something I support 100%, as long as it applies solely to basic treatments.
What do I mean by that? I mean treatments like dental restorations, simple root canals, extractions and gum treatments; which is to say, low risk treatments that don’t require expensive material to be performed.
And my argument is based on two simple premises! Not only is this the only way possible for the Portuguese NHS to support the costs of these interventions, but also the possibility of failure is lower, decreasing the need to repeat treatments in the long run. The consecutive Dentistry treatments and treatment failure have an impact in health and well-being, are a reality to a lot of people. Far too many, I believe.
I think this would be an intelligent way to make the inclusion. Obviously, I don’t believe that private clinics should feel threatened by this. What they should do instead is simply ask the Portuguese National Healthcare System for a control of excellence. One of such elements is the length of the appointment, something I’ve been defending for quite a while.
You can read my interview following this link, which doesn’t exclude reading the whole article in print. What are your thoughts on this subject?
