DONTE GROUP has presented its report ‘Economic Analysis of the Cost of the Expansion of the Oral Health Portfolio for Adults over 65’ at the Vicci Capitol Hotel in Madrid.
This study analyses the oral health situation of people over the age of 65 in Spain and shows that its coverage would cost between 517 and 853 million euros. “This is an affordable cost compared to the potential benefits in terms of improving quality of life and reducing additional healthcare costs”, explains Alberto Montero, professor of Applied Economics at the University of Malaga and author of the report.
At the same time, the document points out that oral health conditions, such as caries, severe tooth loss or dental calculus, affect 40.1%, 72.5% and 39.4% of the population over 65 years of age, respectively.
These ailments not only have an impact on people’s oral health, but also on their quality of life, because, as our medical director Dr Clara Esteban explains, oral health ‘is closely related to general health’. Therefore, improving care in this health area can ‘help prevent the development of systemic or chronic diseases, increase the functional autonomy of the elderly and reduce the use of more costly health services’.
These clinical problems are compounded by the socio-economic factor, as monetary inequalities limit people’s access to dental care. ‘These barriers are not only a question of personal income, but also reflect obvious territorial inequalities, as the expenditure and availability of dental services varies significantly between autonomous communities’, criticises Alberto Montero.
For his part, our CEO, Javier Martín Ocaña, indicates that this report reflects ‘our commitment to improving the oral health of our seniors’. And he recalls that at DONTE GROUP we work to ‘close the accessibility gap’ through ‘collaboration between the public and private sectors, ensuring that every person, regardless of their economic situation, has access to the dental care they deserve’.
This is the third report that DONTE GROUP promotes as part of its social impact programme with the aim of providing data that contributes to everyone having access to oral health.
See previous reports:
