Coverage of the Brazilian Income Transfer Program and factors associated with the performance of dental procedures in Brazil, from 2007 to 2011: an ecological study

Abstract

In Brazil, there has been an expansion of the coverage of dental services in primary health care (PHC), and the focus of the services has changed to include more efforts in prevention and diagnosis. However, little is known about the influence of the coverage of the Brazilian Income Transfer program on the use of dental services. Our study evaluates the association between municipal coverage of the Brazilian Income Transfer Program and the use of dental services. This ecological study conducted with data from the 5,570 Brazilian municipalities estimates, via logistic regressions, the impact of the coverage of the Brazilian Income Transfer program, the Family Health Strategies (FHS), and the oral health teams on the number of restoration, colective, prevention, and dental extraction procedures performed by the Brazilian Unified National Health System (SUS) between the periods 2007/2008 and 2010/2011. The percentage of municipalities that increased the rates of prevention, colective, restoration, and extraction procedures was 46%, 59.8%, 52.5%, and 44.2%, respectively. In the adjusted model, municipalities with increased coverage of Brazilian Income Transfer program were less likely to increase colective (OR = 0.91; 95%CI: 0.79-1.04) and prevention (OR = 0.92; 95%CI: 0.80-1.05) procedures, and they were more likely to increase rates of restoration (OR = 1.11; 95%CI: 0.97-1.28) and dental extraction (OR = 1,10; 95%CI: 0.95-1.27) procedures. The increase in the coverage rate of the oral health teams was significantly associated with a higher chance of an increase in prevention, restoration, and extraction procedures. We conclude that the coverage of oral health teams was the main variable associated with the increase in dental procedures performed in the public service.