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After more than a year of the pandemic, immersed in a sea of ??despair, dodging waves of contagion and suffering the consequences like castaways of an imaginary collective sinking, it seems that The land of salvation is glimpsed far away. The truth is that, like many other sectors of the population, our profession has suffered firsthand from the collapse of the social situation we were experiencing at the beginning of last year. Now, although we continue with the water still choppy, we are clinging to the life jacket of the vaccine and the proximity of the coast can already be glimpsed through mists. 

The public health system as a whole has been subjected to stress that has brought it to the brink of rupture. It would be difficult to justify the reasons why. Despite all the regrets, we have been weathering the storm, not without experiencing terrible losses among patients and professionals. If I had to list any, of course I would start with the enormous capacity for resilience that health workers have shown by maintaining their type, day after day, in really adverse conditions and at the cost of personal sacrifices. The applause at sunset can not pay for all that effort but they are really appreciated. Pulling from proverbs, it is well-born to be grateful and nobody is bitter about a sweet.

That said, another element to consider has undoubtedly been the collaboration in the fight against the pandemic between private and public healthcare. At a time when so much is drifting towards confrontation, comparing the good with the bad, ying against yang, red against blue, and the public with the private, the harsh reality of the virus has put in it evidences the need, beyond of ideologies or ways of thinking,  to use all resources, multidisciplinary work and the use of synergies. Recently, on social networks, the case of Sandra Piñeiro, Orio's paddleless t-shirt, has been spread. it broke He rowed his trawler in full competition and continued on. keeping up the pace to end up winning the race in an example of teamwork and endurance. Without going any further, in our case, dentistry, an eminently private structure, has maintained the service to the population during this unfortunate time, even delivering epis and material to the public network in the first moments . This proves that the classic confrontation between the public and the private, framed in a Kipling-style vision of society structured as the “jungle book” and with the interested tutelage of Disheveled, Oxygenated, Ziggy and Dizzy, fictional characters but that we will probably recognize in the ecosystem that surrounds us, it is something frankly surpassable. The coronavirus has been a milestone in this regard. 

The possibility of working together for the health of the population cannot be capitalized on by a certain group. is At the root of the Hippocratic Oath belongs to the professional, social, political or economic group to which one belongs. The undeniable harms of striving to confront positions by taking advantage of the natural susceptibility of human beings to hostile group behavior may benefit the vultures of the system, but they certainly do not favor the community.

Our profession has suffered firsthand from the collapse of the social situation we were experiencing at the beginning of last year.

An interesting experiment from the 1950s the “Robber´s Cave Experiment” proves what he was saying. Although the name would make the most suspicious think that it was a political experiment, it was actually a social psychology experiment that brought to our topic observed, in the interrelation of people, a first phase of creating groups followed by a second of establishing friction between them and a third of rapprochement and integration. The catalytic element from the second to the third step, from confrontation to collaboration, was and is the creation of a challenge or the appearance of a common enemy. We have a common enemy, which during this time has been the virus, but even before that, we had a common challenge, which is the health of the population, which is obviously a right and which, moreover, is not ; exempt, like all the others: housing, food, etc; to also be a vehicle to earn a living for a large number of people who work for money, not only for money, but not without it.

Our profession can take advantage of the circumstance to become even more integrated into these multidisciplinary health groups (public and private), to increase our influence and presence in political decision-making bodies , social, educational… Also to join professional, scientific and labor associations beyond of the professional associations themselves. The drift of the profession requires representative bodies: unions and associations of dental clinics, employers of the sector with a vision of integrating our interests with those of the health of our patients    It probably also requires increasing holistic training in medicine and dentistry, which, obviously, is not aimed at the tooth but at people. 

The health workers have shown an enormous capacity for resilience, maintaining the type day after day, in really adverse conditions and at the cost of personal sacrifices.

It is in this context that Gerodontology, as a comprehensive dentistry subject for elderly patients, has a relevant and integrating role, especially after the pandemic. At a time when there is talk of dental specialties, to speak of Geriatric Dentistry is to speak of an area of ??knowledge and at the same time a specialty of Dentistry, real from the academic point of view. from the professional point of view in some South American country, although not in Spain, which bases its raison d'être  in three aspects: 

1.- The existence of a social and health interest in the development of a specific activity focused on the care of elderly patients,

2.- The fact that there is an increase in knowledge, skills and attitudes that go beyond of the mere use of a technique or an instrument,

3.- And finally, there should be a number of dentists with professional dedication to the elderly.

These three aspects are currently present in our environment: there is a growing interest in old age accentuated by the circumstances of the health crisis we are experiencing, there is a body of activities, knowledge and techniques that are different of those we use in the rest of the population and finally, given the demographic reality, there are more and more elderly people who sit in our armchairs.

The collaboration of private healthcare with the public has been remarkable. We have a common enemy, which during this time has been the virus, but even before that, we had a common challenge, which is the health of the population, which is obviously a right.

It is an optimal moment, for example, to insist that when talking about the medicalization of Nursing Homes, thinking mainly of doctors and nurses, the dentist should also be added. Converting social institutions for the care of the elderly into institutions with a health component is one of the lessons learned. We have paid a high price for the dissociation between health and the economy, between the social and the health. Now there is talk of improving the quality of life of the elderly patient in these residences and, of course, that is a common objective of doctors, nurses and dentists, public and private, and it is a sweet moment to request that the Geriatric dentistry is promoted in universities, in public health systems, in private consultations and of course in these institutions, creating in them the norm that requires the presence of dentists with knowledge in geriatric dentistry.

It is an optimal moment to insist that when talking about the medicalization of Nursing Homes, the dentist should also be added.

Finally and going back to the beginning,  The third reason that has given us a ray of hope during this year or so has been the vaccines. We have waited for them and now that we are beginning to have them and seeing some denialist attitudes from part of the population,  We cannot help but remember the illustrious popularizer Isaac Asimov when he told us that “the saddest aspect of life at this very moment is to see how science gathers knowledge faster from which society gathers wisdom”.

The saddest aspect of life right now is seeing how science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom. Isaac Asimov.

**Translated with Google Translate