Reaching the milestone of 20 years of existence is a source of pride for a company. It represents not only the work done, but also the almost family-like union of, in this case, the Albertina Alves Dental Clinic based in Vila Nova de Gaia that has stood the test of time. According to the head of the Clinic, the two decades have been made up of moments, and 2009 marks an important milestone in this journey with the expansion of facilities and services provided.
23 May 2001 marks the beginning of the Clínica de Medicina Dentária Albertina Alves, a “small-sized clinic exclusively dedicated to dental medicine”. However, 2009 marked an important milestone in this history, with the expansion of the facilities “with the aim of diversifying the services and improving the physical conditions of the clinic”.
According to Albertina Alves, the philosophy of the clinic “has always been to be close to the patient, planning their treatment in a personalised manner with the help of a solid and dedicated team”, hence the need to expand the space and also the services. With this change, the clinic now offers Podiatry, Traditional Chinese Medicine and Psychology services.
For the clinical director, these specialties are an asset, since “dental clinics provide specialised and local healthcare. In these spaces other physical and mental needs are often shared. By having other specialties, the clinics not only reinforce the proximity of the care provided but also encourage humanisation and convey the idea of a clinic centred on the person as a whole (body and mind). An example of this complementarity is the problems of Bruxism and TMJ associated with anxiety problems as well as postural problems allowing a multidisciplinary intervention to be predictive of greater success in resolving clinical cases”.
Regarding expectations for the future, Albertina Alves says that they want to be “increasingly innovative, fulfilling the mission of taking better care of the oral and general health of patients”, being aware “of how challenging the health area is in the pressing need to update and adapt to changes in lifestyle”. As for the future of the sector, the clinical director mentions that “there is a lot of work to do with the population in terms of prevention, treatment and rehabilitation”.
Albertina Alves says that it is necessary to continue to inform and educate for oral and general health, “because the more informed the more awareness there is for the need to take care of health”. “It is our mission to treat and care with all existing and possible resources for the benefit of the patient,” she concludes.
