Saberes culturales sobre la prevención y tratamientos de enfermedades bucales en el pueblo Wótjuja del municipio Autana, Estado Amazonas, Venezuela

Abstract

The Wotjuja People live in the Amazonas and Bolivar states. It is known that for them health is related to religion. They attribute, in part, the causes of diseases to the spiritual world. To treat them, they use medicinal plants and rituals of shamans as a therapy. Some studies on health in indigenous peoples, have been carried out in Venezuela. However, to date no study on the prevention and treatment of oral diseases in the Wotjuja people has been found. Therefore, this study aimed to describe cultural knowledge on the prevention and treatment of oral diseases in some Wotjuja communities settled in the Autana, Amazonas State, Venezuela. A qualitative, descriptive study was carried out. Unstructured interviews, participant and non- participant observation and extensive field notes were used as data collection methods. 58 members of the Wotjuja people participated as infomants. For the analysis of the data, the triangulation method was used. It was found that the cultural knowledge of the Wotjuja people on the prevention and treatment of oral diseases are composed of a syncretic practice that contemplates their empirical wisdom through the use of medicinal plants, mineral products, animal products, religious rites, along with conventional dental practices. It is suggested to consider this knowledge when carrying out programs to attend oral health of this people.