US blockade against Cuba damages its dental services

CAMAGUEY, Cuba, Feb 5 (ACN) Dental services are among the public health services most affected nowadays by the tightening of the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States on Cuba almost six decades ago.

The greatest effects of the genocidal policy's restrictions on dental care were suffered especially in 2020, according to Isael Perez Vazquez, director of the La Vigia dental clinic, one of the main dental clinics in this city, who told ACN.

The shortage of essential resources for prosthetic rehabilitation, specifically for the elderly, is among the most illustrative examples of the effects caused by the U.S. blockade.

The lack of products such as white plaster, stone plaster and wax limits the number of patients that should be treated normally in the dental prosthesis service of the institution, said the second-degree specialist in General Integral Stomatology.

In 2020, we were supposed to carry out 7,022 consultations, of which only 1,823 were made, and 1,454 people could not be admitted either, due to the shortage of the aforementioned components, he pointed out.

On the other hand, when comparing the number of fillings - restoration of a tooth previously damaged by caries - performed last year compared to 2018, an average of more than 6,300 were not performed, taking into account that in the latest period, only six kits with 3,000 amalgam capsules were received, and two years earlier, 22 kits with 12,500 capsules registered.

The doctor also commented that the tightening of the blockade has had repercussions on the acquisition on the international market of spare parts for the clinic's equipment needed for repair or renovation, such as dental sets, halogen light bulbs and amalgamators.

The insufficient number of supplies such as gloves, detergent and soap is another of the consequences derived from the establishment of the cruel U.S. policy, in addition to the shortage of the aforementioned stomatological resources, Perez Vazquez remarked.

Despite the situation described above, the will of specialists and technicians to offer quality care prevails, even over the limitations imposed by the incidence of COVID-19, a dangerous disease present in the Caribbean nation since March 2020.