Abstract
BackgroundThe number of oral health technicians (OHT) in the public health service in Brazil is lower than the number of training school graduates. Thus, the objective of this study was to investigate possible factors associated with the inclusion of OHT in the public health service in Minas Gerais, Brazil, and its implications on oral health indicators.MethodsThis cross-sectional ecological study used a database (Excel) composed of 122 municipalities that participated in an OHT training course that took place between 2012 and 2013. Municipal contextual variables, including oral health indicators and sociodemographic indicators, related to the organization of health services were incorporated before and after the course. The dependent variable was the entry of graduates into the public health service according to a self-report survey conducted in 2015. A descriptive analysis of the variables was carried out, followed by bivariate analyses between the independent variables and the dependent variable using Pearson’s chi-square test. The independent variables selected for multivariate logistic regression were statistically significant at p < 0.20. In the final model, significant effects were identified for variables with p < 0.05. The statistical software SPSS 18.0 for Windows was used.ResultsAfter the course, the variable of the public service organization and the two variables of oral health indicators were associated with the outcome. The organization services variable “presence of oral health team modality II” and the variable “indicator of coverage of first dental programmatic consultation” presented an association tendency with the entry of OHT in the multivariate logistic regression model, but these associations were not statistically significant because they had significance levels of p = 0.075 and p = 0.191, respectively. The variable “collective action indicator supervised dental brushing” was associated with the entry of egress (p = 0.045) remaining in the final model.ConclusionThe model of organization of the oral health service formed through the implementation of modality II oral health teams positively influenced the inclusion of OHT in the public health service in Minas Gerais, with improvement in the oral health indicators of the municipalities.
Highlights
The importance of human resources for the formulation of public policies on health is unquestionable since professionals qualified to work in this sector play a fundamental role in the realization or maintenance of most functions of health care systems
The composition of the dental health team (DHT) in the family health team (FHT) was defined by Ordinance No 1444 of the year 2000 by the Ministry of Health (MH) [20] and established two modalities of the DHT: modality I is composed of a dentist and an Oral health auxiliaries (OHA), and modality II is formed by a dentist, an OHA and an oral health technicians (OHT)
The educational programme offered between the years 2012 and 2013 presented a wide geographic distribution in Minas Gerais since it included all of the expanded regions of health (ERH) in the state
Summary
The importance of human resources for the formulation of public policies on health is unquestionable since professionals qualified to work in this sector play a fundamental role in the realization or maintenance of most functions of health care systems. In Brazil, the regulation of professional practice occurred in 2008, establishing that OHT can act only under the supervision of the dental surgeon [12]. The National Policy of Basic Attention [16] establishes the following attributions for OHT: to train oral health auxiliaries (OHAs) and health promoters; to welcome patients in oral health services; to carry out programme activities with attention to spontaneous demand; to participate in surveys and epidemiological studies; to monitor, support and develop collective activities related to oral health with other members of the team, seeking to approach and integrate health actions in a multidisciplinary way; and to perform clinical care, acting to promote health and prevent oral diseases. The objective of this study was to investigate possible factors associated with the inclusion of OHT in the public health service in Minas Gerais, Brazil, and its implications on oral health indicators
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call