Sassari, Sardinia – A new initiative is bringing much-needed dental services to vulnerable populations in northwestern Sardinia. The project, part of the National program Equity in Health (PNES), aims to address health disparities by providing dental clinics that offer visits, care, and even dental prostheses to those most in need.

The PNES, included in Italy’s partnership agreement on cohesion policy programming for 2021-2027, focuses on strengthening health services and ensuring equitable access across seven regions, including Sardinia, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Molise, Puglia, and Sicily.

four Key Areas of Intervention

The program identifies four critical areas requiring urgent intervention to support regional and local health and social services for individuals facing socio-economic disadvantages:

• Mental health care
• Increased cancer screening coverage
• Gender-sensitive treatment approaches
• Combating health poverty

addressing health Poverty Through Dental Care

Health poverty, defined as the inability to access essential care due to economic or social barriers, is a primary focus of the PNES. One of the critical areas identified is the dental one, frequently enough neglected in public health systems due to the high costs and the perception of “Non -urgent care”. However, the lack of oral health has a notable impact both on the quality of life and on the dignity of people. The beneficiaries of the program are individuals in a state of socio-economic vulnerability that are unable to obtain adequate health and socio-health care, said Paolo Tauro, the extraordinary commissioner of the ASL of sassari.

Integrated Evaluation for Access to care

The program employs a complete evaluation process to determine eligibility for dental care. The PNES introduces an integrated evaluation that takes into account not only the economic situation, but also of specific clinical and social criteria for access to dental care, in fact, to each patient, thanks also to the collaboration with the municipal administrations, social services and the third sector, a priority score is assigned, explained Annarosa Negri, director of Social Health Services of the ASL n. 1.

Services Offered at the Dental Clinics

The dental clinics provide a range of services, including visits, pre-prosthetic procedures, dental examinations, oral hygiene, extractions, and reconstructions.

The performance aims to guarantee an adequate oral health basis for any subsequent prosthetic treatments. Dental screening and essential and preventive assistance are also provided, essential to reduce the progression of oral pathologies and intercept in early care needs, Negri added.

Dental Clinic Locations and Schedules

The dental clinics are located at the following facilities:

• Ozieri: Polyclinic, every Tuesday, 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
• Sassari: “Conti” health facility, every Thursday, 2:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
• Porto Torres: andriolu polyclinic, every Friday, 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.