Support for the Solidarity Dentist project; find out how to access

Created by the Public Health Service, the SIdP project aims to offer free dental treatment to low-income populations.

In the post-pandemic period, the population that was in a socially vulnerable situation had only 5% of dental services provided, a number that fell or even dropped to zero during the pandemic, leading many to not receive any dental care or treatment.

So today, we'll talk about the SIdP project and how it's possible to access services if you have a low income. Check it out.

Solidarity Dentist

The project, created by the SIdP Onlus foundation in association with the San Vincenzo de Paoli Society and the Italian Society of Periodontology and Implantology on April 30, 2022, is entitled The Solidarity Dentist (Il Dentita Solidal).

This program's main objective is to provide access to dental treatment for people who are in socially vulnerable situations.

World Health Day , celebrated on April 7th, was the reason for the initiative, and it involves 250 dentists and dental hygienists from SIdP. These professionals dedicate about an hour or more per week to attending to and performing dental examinations on people participating in the program.

The Società San Vincenzo De Paoli plays a significant role in the project, being responsible for identifying individuals who need the services provided by the program and for monitoring these individuals throughout the entire process.

Knowing more about the Solidarity Dentist project

“Beyond intervening in an emergency context to allow for urgent treatment, it aims to raise awareness of the importance of prevention and correct oral hygiene practices,” declared Mario Aimentti , president of the SIdP Onlus Foundation, regarding the Dentist Solidarity project.

“In Italy, dental services are essentially private with minimal coverage by the public system and consequent economic barriers for citizens”, he concluded.

Data collected by Istado in 2019 shows that one in two citizens of Italy visit the dentist. Among the population living in poverty , the number of people receiving dental care is 14%, while among the population living in extreme poverty , the number is 9%.

Aimentti states: “Furthermore, among foreign citizens, access to dental care is less than half that of Italians and the pandemic has worsened these inequalities.”

The Solidarity Dentist project, therefore, aims as a top priority to minimize the impacts that social differences cause, even more accentuated after the pandemic period that affected the world.