Cultural Traditions and Oral Hygiene Practices of the Zenú Population in Sucre, Colombia

Introduction: the Political Constitution of Colombia defines, as one of its essential principles, the recognition and protection of the Colombian ethnic and cultural diversity, which involves guaranteeing their rights, like the right to health, as conceived from their cultural characteristics. Objective: seize the cultural traditions and oral hygiene practices of the Zenú indigenous population. Methods: a qualitative study conducted in 2011. This study takes up again the ethnographic approach and method. 10 individuals from the Zenú community participated in the data collection process. The performed activities included observation, field logs, comprehensive interviews and observation groups. The analysis comprised the data condensation, from a descriptive and interpretative exercise, which was organized in three analysis categories, which resulted in several trends. Results: in spite of the westernization processes, traditional myth related practices, as well as broad and positive magical-religious conceptions on health and oral hygiene are still implemented. The inter-generation transmission is still valid, and dentistry services are only used when oral conditions cannot be cured by traditional treatments. Conclusion: preservation of traditions and ancestral oral health care practices call for the reorientation of the education of oral health care providers to further their science conception and, thus, facilitate the recognition of cultural differences and social inclusion processes for different groups.

• Autores: Ochoa Acosta, Emilia María; Patiño Gutiérrez, Karoll; Pérez Suescun, Carlos Andrés; Lambraño Escobar, Leidy Fernanda; Sierra Caro, Eliana
• Tipo de recurso: Article of journal
• Fecha de publicación: 2015
• Institución: Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia
• Repositorio: Repositorio UCC
• Idioma: spa
• OAI Identifier: oai:repository.ucc.edu.co:20.500.12494/9684
• Acceso en línea: https://revistas.ucc.edu.co/index.php/od/article/view/765; https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12494/9684
• Rights: openAccess
• License: Derechos de autor 2015 Revista Nacional de Odontología