Conhecimentos e atitudes dos cirurgiões-dentistas da atenção básica sobre ortodontia preventiva e interceptora

Abstract

Individual and population approaches seeking an early interception of malocclusion are skills for dentists, recommended by the Ministry of Health in Primary Care Notebook n.17. This research aimed to analyze primary health dentists´ perception on their knowledge and attitudes towards Preventive and Interceptive Orthodontics, and associated factors. Participants of this descriptive study were dentists who worked in primary health care in the city of Goiania, Goias State. Data was obtained using a self-administered questionnaire. We performed frequency analysis for categorical variables and calculated central tendency and dispersion measures for continuous variables, for characterizing the occupational and socio-demographic profile as well as describing variables related to participants´ knowledge and attitudes. To assess the relationship between variables, we used Chi-square tests, Student´s t tests and variance analysis (ANOVA), considering a 5% significance level (?). Response rate was of 78.8%. Most dentists had satisfactory knowledge and favorable attitudes towards Preventive and Interceptive Orthodontics. Nevertheless, few participants were confident about performing the main approaches related to the early interception of malocclusion, such as early diagnosis and recommending an ideal age for occlusal problems´ treatment. Attitude may be influenced by knowledge and despite dentists´ interest about the theme and awareness of the relevance of Preventive and Interceptive Orthodontics to primary care, our findings highlight the need for professional training, through continuing education and investments in resources´ availability, as well as introducing Preventive and Interceptive Orthodontics diagnosis into the dental record. Key words: Malocclusion. Preventive Orthodontics. Primary Health Care.