Thessaloniki dentists offer free consults, criticize ministry
Thessaloniki dentists will be offering free consults at their practices until December 2 as part of Oral Health Month, their association has announced.
Speaking to the press on Tuesday, the head of the Dentists’ Association of Thessaloniki, Athanasios Devliotis said that the aim of the campaign is to raise awareness regarding the importance of oral hygiene, while also providing citizens with free examinations to spot possible problem areas.
Devliotis used the opportunity of the campaign announcement to launch an attack against the Health Ministry, saying that dental hygiene is sorely lacking from its plans to overhaul the public health care system, adding that the association will also be filing an appeal with the Council of State, the country’s highest administrative court, in a bid to exempt the sector from a law liberalizing all medical professions.
The head of the northern port city’s dentists said that the ministry’s plans to set up a single national health care provider, EOPYY, which will cover around 98 percent of the population, have overlooked funding for dental care.
“We are asking for the realistic pricing of the dental services EOPYY will provide, as well as an increase in the percentage of the cost of dental care that will be covered by that body so that the insured can at least have rudimentary dental coverage,» Devliotis said.
