Luis Alonso Calatrava, dentist and founding dean of the Santa María University dental school, revealed that a third of the Venezuelan population does not smile or covers their mouths when laughing because they are missing one or more teeth.
The expert, who described the state of oral health in the country as catastrophic, warned that caries problems increased 77% from 1990 to 2017, while gum problems increased 115% and tooth loss 157%.
In an interview with the journalist Román Lozinski for Circuito Éxitos, Calatrava highlighted that in Venezuela there are no policies on the part of the State to care for oral health despite the fact that links have been discovered between periodontal diseases and other medical conditions such as diabetes, Alzheimer’s and heart disease.
He pointed out that it is necessary for the State to start carrying out preventive campaigns, especially among the low-income population, since oral health problems are preventable.
“Life expectancy in the world is increasing and it is expected to be with quality of life and with teeth, in Venezuela there is an elderly population with no teeth. Only about 5% of the population has access to more expensive services like smile design,” she added.
Calatrava explained that these types of problems also have a great impact on the emotional health of Venezuelans.
The dentist pointed out that according to a study carried out by the expert Mariana Villaroel, in 2019 six cases of oropharyngeal cancer were diagnosed a week and so far in 2023 more than 100 cases of oral cancer.
Given this scenario, he alerted the population that mouth lesions that do not heal after 15 days should be checked by a specialist because they may be premalignant.