Cuenca public health service provides free dental care to 51,000 since January

The Ministry of Public Health (MSP) has provided dental care to 51,110 Cuenca patients since the beginning of the year and administrators estimate the total will top 130,000 by the end of 2017.

Dentist and patient at MSP-Cuenca.(El Mercurio)

In a program started in January, the 47 dentists and dental technicians employed by MSP- Cuenca, leave the clinics each week to visit schools, nursing homes, markets, and other public facilities to provide services to thousands of patients. The visits, announced on local radio and in newspapers, are part of a public outreach program aimed at the most vulnerable populations, including the elderly and children.

This week, crews from MSP are visiting more than a dozen schools in Cuenca.

Most dental services, as well as a full range of medical services, are still provided at clinics located throughout the city and in rural areas outside of town. All services in the MSP system are offered free of charge based on a constitutional requirement that all Ecuador residents have access to health care.

The main public health clinic in Cuenca is on Av. Huayna-Capac 1-270 and is open for all walk-in services, including dentistry, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The clinic’s phone number is (07) 286 9642.