Procesos de determinación del derecho a la salud bucal de mujeres en post-parto y sus hijos. Bucaramanga y Medellín (Colombia), Santiago (Chile), 2017.

Introduction. Numerous studies address the oral health situation and access to dental care for pregnant women, however few maintain postpartum observation, much less the situation of the children during their first years of life. Objective. To identify and understand the general, particular and singular processes that limit or favor the exercise of the right to oral health of postpartum women and their children during the first year of life. Method. The study utilizes the Social Determinants of Health approach in two Colombian cities, Medellín and Bucaramanga, and in Santiago de Chile. In each city, 26 pairs participated, with prior informed consent. Qualitative techniques (interviews and discussion groups) and quantitative techniques (survey and oral exams) were used for data collection. Results. General economic, political, and gender processes, together with labor, consumer, and sociocultural dynamics of the families' lifestyles, determine, positively or negatively, the opportunities of access to oral health care for both subjects and for their objective condition. Conclusion. Processes at a general level, with some differences between the two countries, limit the exercise of the right to health, recognized as fundamental by both political constitutions. Those processes at the general level subsume the particular and singular processes that also behave as limitations in most cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]