Abstract
This study aimed to investigate factors associated with dental prosthesis procedures by oral health teams (OHTs) in the Brazilian primary health care in 2013–2014, who participated in the National Program for Improving Access and Quality of Primary Health Care (PMAQ-AB). This is an analytical cross-sectional study using a questionnaire with dichotomous questions applied in 18,114 OHTs. The dependent variable studied was making any type of prosthesis (removable or fixed). Independent variables involved issues related to human resources and health service management. Data were submitted to simple and multiple binary logistic regression with odds ratio calculation, 95% confidence intervals, and p-values. Most OHTs (57%) do not perform any dental prosthesis. The teams that are more likely to perform dental prostheses have human resources-related characteristics, such as professionals admitted through public examinations (OR 1.25, 95% CI 1.14–1.36) and those involved in permanent education (OR 1.13, 95% CI 1.02–1.26). Moreover, OHTs with a more organized work process and that receive more significant support from municipal management are more likely to perform dental prostheses (p < 0.05). The oral health teams which tended to provide the most dental prostheses to benefit patients were; hired as civil servants, had a municipal career plan, involved all members of the oral health team, and trained undergraduate dental students from outreach programs. Better organizational support and improved work incentives may be needed to get the majority of oral health teams to start providing dental prostheses to their patients.
Highlights
Tooth loss is still relevant in public health despite the considerable global decline over recent years [1,2]
This study investigated the association between organization factors, including human resources and work process characteristics, and provision of the dental prosthesis by the oral health teams in a nationally representative sample of Brazilian dentists working in primary health care using the National Program for Improving Access and Quality of Primary Health Care (PMAQ-AB) 2013–2014
Most of the professionals of the oral health teams were involved in Continuum Professional Development (CPD), and only 12.7% of the oral health teams hosted undergraduate dental students from outreach programs, and nearly 30% had a specialization, Master of Science or Ph.D
Summary
Tooth loss is still relevant in public health despite the considerable global decline over recent years [1,2]. Brazilian older adults aged 65–74 years have a high prevalence of tooth loss. According to the 2010 Brazilian Oral Health Survey, 53.7% of this age group was edentulous [3]. 37.5% of older adults in Brazil have upper and lower dentures, respectively. The need for at least one denture was 33.3% [4]. Tooth loss may affect psychological and social well-being, whereas prosthetic rehabilitation can restore oral health functions (e.g., chewing) and esthetics, improving oral health-related quality of life, minimizing the consequences of edentulism [5]
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