Social problems related with the periodontal health status of the infantile urban marginal population of Venezuela

Abstract

In the underdeveloped countries where the promotional or protecting communitarian intervention have not being firmly established, and where there is not follow-up and control of the health education and prevention programs, most of the individuals have Chronic Gingivitis since early ages, it reaches its maximal expression before arriving to 20 years old, and keeps the same during the whole life; sometimes it develops to periodontitis, if it is not adequately treated, having a considerable impact both on the general public health and on the economic resources used to keep it. Although there are in Venezuela very competent specialized odontologists, hospitals and clinics with the adequate structures and infrastructures, the poorest population does not have access to the oral health services they need, because there is a an excessive price raise of the  private stomatologic and medical services. We write this article with the objective of dealing with the social problems striking on the periodontal health of the Venezuelan infantile urban marginal population. The deficient social organization, the exclusion of the classes with fewer incomes, the scarce preventive educative measures on oral dental health applied by the local health services, the poor evaluation the population makes on their general and oral health, the lack of motivation and therefore of educative-preventive programs, were the social problems related with the worsening of this population’s periodontal health.