Abstract
ABSTRACTOBJECTIVE:To evaluate whether characteristics of health services, oral health team and dental surgeon are associated with provision of dental care for children up to five years old in Brazilian Primary Health Care.METHODS:A cross-sectional study was conducted with data from 18,114 oral health teams in Brazil, evaluated in 2014 by the National Program for Access and Quality Improvement in Primary Care. The study outcome was the proven performance of dental procedures on children up to five years old. Statistical analysis was performed by Poisson regression based on a hierarchical model, where the first level was composed of service organization variables, the intermediate level composed of unit planning characteristics, and the proximal level composed of variables related to dental surgeon characteristics.RESULTS:Prevalence of dental care performed by oral health teams was 80.9% (n = 14,239). Scheduled appointments and activities of education in health were positively associated with the outcome, as well as planning and programming activities for the population and monitoring and analysis of oral health indicators. Complementary training in public health, continuing education activities and career plan were variables related to dental surgeons associated with the service provision.CONCLUSIONS:One fifth of health units in Brazil do not provide dental care for children in early childhood. Health units’ well-structured organization and planning protocols are associated with the provision of this service, as well as better employment relationship and graduate activities for dental surgeons.
Highlights
Dental cavity is considered a serious public health issue worldwide, ant it is one of the most prevalent chronic diseases[1]
A cross-sectional study was performed from data collected in a multicentric way between March and December 2014 in 24,055 primary health care units (PHCU) throughout the country
As for the dental surgeon characteristics, only 33.0% professionals are specialized in family health; 44.0% of them have statutory employment relationship, and most of them (72.0%) participate in zero to three education activities (Tables 1 and 2)
Summary
Dental cavity is considered a serious public health issue worldwide, ant it is one of the most prevalent chronic diseases[1]. According to the latest evaluation of Brazilian population’s oral health conditions, its prevalence in 5-year-old children reaches approximately 53.4%. Poor oral health conditions may have a negative impact on overall health during early childhood, causing biopsychosocial, growth and physical development damages, in addition to decreased quality of life and learning capacity[3,4]. Cavities develop from multiple and complex interactions involving biological, behavioral, and social issues. The literature describes more than 100 risk factors for the development of childhood cavities[5,6], which can be broadly categorized into sociodemographic, behavioral, dietary, related to health services, or referring to knowledge, cognition and beliefs. Resoluteness, in turn, varies according to the oral health team modality[8]
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