Barreras de acceso geográfico a los servicios de salud oral en el departamento del Tolima, Colombia.

Cross-sectional descriptive mixed study carried out for the 47 municipalities of the department of Tolima, Colombia, neighboring the department of Cundinamarca, where Bogota, the capital of the country, is located. The objective was to analyze the geographical access barriers and the inventory of human talent and dental services in this department. A distance and time measurement system was applied to identify the duration of travel from each municipality to Ibagué (departmental capital) by public transport. The geographical accessibility barrier determinant endorsed by the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) is a trip duration greater than four hours. It was found that the first level of care in the public sector is present in all municipalities, the second level is in six; the third only in Ibague. Displacement by public transport represents a geographical access barrier in six municipalities; the number of dentists in the public sector does not satisfactorily cover the needs of the population, since more than 50% of the municipalities have a deficit of more than four general dentists and there is a low presence of specialists. In the department of Tolima there are geographical accessibility barriers to health and, specifically, to oral health.