Delivery Of Oral Health Services Research Articles

Delivery of Oral Health Services at Medical Visits through 3 Medical Dental Integration Models.

The Rocky Mountain Network of Oral Health is 1 of 3 regional projects funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration (2019 to 2024) focusing on caries prevention through medical-dental integration (MDI) in community health centers (CHCs). MDI models included provision of preventive oral health services (POHS) at medical visits by the medical team (model 1), by integrated dental hygienists (DHs; model 2), or a hybrid of these models (model 3). The overarching aim is to evaluate the effectiveness of these models on 3 objectives: (1) ≥50% receive POHS, (2) ≥75% with high caries risk receives dental referral, and (3) ≥30% of parents/caregivers set an oral health goal for the child. Primary care association practice facilitators (PFs) recruited 22 CHCs to participate from Arizona, Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming. CHCs completed oral health needs assessments prior to participating. PFs coached CHCs using an MDI change package. CHCs submitted monthly and 6-mo, aggregated, deidentified population metrics for children aged 0 to 40 mo receiving well-child care visits. Monthly CHC-specific reports were used by PFs with teams in continuous quality improvement activities. POHS delivery trends over time were assessed using a linear mixed model, adjusting for number of eligible patients during each 6-mo reporting period. Participating CHCs were urban (55%), rural (36%), and frontier (8%). Twelve (55%) had co-located dental clinics. Ten CHCs implemented model 1, 5 implemented model 2, and 7 implemented model 3. From September 2020 to August 2023, CHCs reported providing 91,604 POHS to eligible children. After adjustment, there was significant improvement over time for all objectives: objective 1: F(5, 90) = 4.66, P = 0.0008; objective 2: F(5, 90) = 2.99, P = 0.0151; objective 3: F(5, 90) = 4.56, P = 0.0009. The implementation of 3 MDI models across 22 CHCs in 4 states resulted in a meaningful increase in POHS delivery. POHS delivery by both medical and embedded DHs was associated with the most substantial increase in POHS delivery. The results of this study can be used by medical and dental providers when deciding which approach they wish to use when planning the delivery of preventive oral health services at medical visits.

Transforming Dental Care in Saudi Arabia: Challenges and Opportunities.

This comprehensive review examines the dental healthcare system in Saudi Arabia, tracing its evolution, current status, and persisting challenges. The system has evolved significantly due to government initiatives and technological integration, yet it grapples with issues like professional shortages, financial constraints, and disparities in access. Despite improvements in accessibility, geographic and socio-economic disparities persist, and oral health promotion remains limited. The integration of technology faces resistance, and specialized care for people with disabilities requires targeted strategies. Cultural and social factors influence oral health, and the system's response to the COVID-19 pandemic showcases adaptability and patient-centered approaches. Addressing these challenges is crucial for ensuring equitable and effective oral health service delivery in Saudi Arabia.

Provisioning Oral Health Care through Indian Public Health Standards, 2022

The Indian Public Health Standards (IPHS) were initially developed in 2007 to provide an effective and optimal level of quality health care in our country. IPHS was later revised in 2012, and more recently, in 2022. IPHS revised guidelines for 2022 take into account several new initiatives and programs, including Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centers, the introduction of the National Urban Health Mission and Urban Primary Health Centers (polyclinics) in urban areas. These revised guidelines also make provision for the delivery of oral health services at each facility level. This review highlights the oral health-care services and delivery mechanisms mentioned in all the four volumes of IPHS revised guidelines 2022 under the headings of infrastructure, human resource, service provisions and essential drugs, diagnostics, and equipment required at all the levels of health care.

Does oral health goal setting during medical visits improve parents' oral health behaviors?

The Rocky Mountain Network for Oral Health (RoMoNOH) promotes the delivery of preventive oral health services (POHS) to children receiving care at community health centers (CHCs) in Arizona, Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming. One POHS is oral health goal setting (OHGS). This study aimed to evaluate the effect of OHGS during medical visits on parent/caregiver-reported oral health behaviors (OHBs). The RoMoNOH implementation team trained CHC healthcare providers in POHS, including caries risk assessment, oral health education, fluoride varnish application, dental referrals, and parent/caregiver oral health engagement. To promote parents' oral health engagement, healthcare providers were trained in motivational interviewing (MI) with OHGS at medical visits. To evaluate the impact of MI with OHGS on parent/caregiver OHBs, a healthcare team member invited parents/caregivers to complete a baseline survey after their medical visits. The evaluation team sent a follow-up survey after 10-14 days. The surveys measured parents/caregivers' goals, confidence in goal attainment, OHBs, and sociodemographics; the follow-up survey also measured OHGS attainment. Improvement in parent/caregiver-reported OHBs was tested with a paired t-test and unadjusted and adjusted multiple linear regression. In total, 426 parents/caregivers completed the baseline survey; 184 completed both surveys. OHBs, including toothbrushing frequency, stopping bed bottles, drinking tap water, and brushing with fluoride toothpaste improved over the evaluation interval. After adjusting for covariates, brushing with fluoride toothpaste (p = 0.01), drinking tap water (p = 0.03), and removing bed bottles (p = 0.03) improved significantly. MI with OHGS with parents/caregivers during medical visits has potential to improve OHBs on behalf of their children.

The oral health landscape in Singapore: A commentary on key features, challenges and future policies.

Over the last decade, Singapore has grappled with substantial healthcare challenges, chiefly a bourgeoning aging population and a mounting burden of chronic diseases. The oral health landscape has also changed, with the Ministry of Health placing a greater focus on a life-course approach supported by policies that facilitate Singaporeans to receive dental care appropriately and affordably. A pivotal oral health policy is the National Dental Strategy, a comprehensive framework governing dental services in the public sector. This strategy encompasses aspects such as financing, workforce management, and capacity considerations. To facilitate affordability and accessibility to dental services in the public sector, the government extends subsidies to reduce out-of-pocket costs. Those attending private dental clinics also benefit from the Community Health Assist Scheme, introduced in 2012, which alleviates treatment costs for enrolled Singaporeans. Furthermore, additional age-banded subsidies have been introduced for older Singaporeans born before 1960, enhancing financial support when accessing dental services in both private and public sectors. In 2019, a national adult oral health survey was commissioned to gauge the oral health status of Singaporeans aged 21 and above. The findings reported 34.8% having untreated dental caries, and 15.7% and 41.2% experiencing moderate and severe periodontitis, respectively. While over half (53.9%) of respondents visited the dentist at least annually, about 60% of eligible individuals did not utilize their government dental subsidies. In response, the Ministry of Health is committed to strengthening oral disease prevention, integrating oral health into general healthcare services, expanding dental financing schemes to enhance service utilization, improving the quality and transparency of dental care, and leveraging advancements in tele-dentistry and other modes of dental services. It is imperative to adapt Singapore's oral health policies and service delivery models to meet the evolving needs of the population and ensure a sustainable, equitable and resilient oral healthcare system.

Oral health services in prison settings: A global scoping review of availability, accessibility, and model of delivery.

This review aimed at evaluating the state of availability, accessibility and model of delivery of oral health services in prisons, globally. Five databases of peer-reviewed literature and potential sources of grey literature were systematically searched. Inclusion criteria encompassed oral health papers related to prisons globally, with exclusion of certain article types. Selection involved independent evaluations by two researchers, followed by quality assessment. Data on the availability of oral health interventions in prisons came from 18 countries, while information on the model of delivery of the services is scarce. In addition, two sets of individual and organizational barriers toward oral health service uptake in prisons were revealed and discussed in the text. Lack of oral health services in prisons affects people living in prisons and jeopardizes their reintegration. Urgent and concrete international actions are required to ensure the availability, accessibility, and quality of oral health services among people living in prisons.

Strategies to integrate oral health into primary care: a systematic review

ObjectivesIntegration of oral health into primary care has been proposed as a primary healthcare approach for efficient and sustainable delivery of oral health services, and the effective management of oral...

How does the dental benefits act encourage Australian families to seek and utilise oral health services?

This study aimed to analyse the content of the Dental Benefits Act 2008 as a foundation for the Child Dental Benefits Schedule (CDBS) to determine how the Act encourages Australian families to seek and utilise oral health services. This was a qualitative narrative document analysis conducted in 2022. Data was collected by searching formal websites for retrieving documents that reported the Australian Dental Benefits Act. The eligibility of the retrieved documents was assessed based on authenticity, credibility, representativeness, and meaningfulness of the data. A seven-steps procedure was applied for framework analysis. The content of the Dental Benefits Act 2008 provides directions on the three categories of operational, collective, and constitutional rules. Operational rules at the level of oral health providers and the population, as the service end users, can be demonstrated as rules in use in a mutual interaction with the collective and constitutional rules. The consequence of governing the rules at the community level can easily define how the oral health services are provided and utilised. The response is sent to the government level for better regulation of oral health service delivery and utilisation. Then, with interaction and advocacy with the diverse range of stakeholders and interdisciplinary partnerships, with community groups, non-government sectors and councils, the rules can be transformed, adopted, monitored, and enforced. Another mechanism of response has occurred at the providers' and users' level and to the operational rules to community groups and stakeholders via advertising and promoting the utilisation and provision of oral health services. This study integrates the perspective of politicians with those of policy makers to reconsider the role and significance of the rules based on the triple collaborations among oral health users and oral service providers, the community, and the stakeholders as well as the government. A comprehensive attention is still needed in future revisions of the Dental Benefits Act 2008 according to the contextual factors, socioeconomic and geographical attributes of the population for better implementation of de facto rules and more effective outcomes of the interventions. It is recommended that further research be undertaken utilising a mix-method approach for a holistic view prior to further revisions of the Act or proposal of probable upcoming schemes.

Oral health promotion and programming provided by Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations in South Australia.

Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs) play a critical role in supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health in Australia. This article aims to identify and describe oral health programming and promotion provided by ACCHOs in South Australia. All ACCHOs in South Australia were identified through the Aboriginal Health Council of South Australia. A targeted search strategy was designed to include the websites and social media pages (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) for each organisation. Program characteristics were extracted and summarised, and oral health promotion content was analysed utilising content analysis. Twelve programs were identified across the 12 ACCHOs in South Australia. Of these, seven focused on oral health and five focused on nutrition. Oral health and nutrition information shared online by ACCHOs was extracted and aggregated into oral health and nutrition categories, which included reminders about visiting services, advocacy statements, oral hygiene messaging, appointment availability, education resources, and upcoming community-based activities. The evidence explored highlights the integral role ACCHOs play in oral health promotion and service delivery. It is critically important that ACCHOs are involved in development and implementation of oral health services to ensure programming reflects community knowledges and is effective in improving oral health equity.

Future expectations, career choices and related factors among dental students: A cross-sectional study.

The aim of this study was to determine descriptive characteristics of dental students, to investigate their professional expectations, career decision criteria, and related factors; to examine how (if any) seniority in school affects these. During the period of 2018-2019, all 1-5 grade students (n = 754) of Hacettepe University Dental School were invited to participate and those who accepted had filled under observation a standard questionnaire form of 35 questions (83.4%). In the analysis of the data, descriptive statistics, chi-square, Student's t-test and ANOVA and Odds ratio methods were used. In this cross-sectional study, 66% of the group were female, age range was 18-30 (mean±SD= 21.2 ± 1.7). The most common reasons for choosing dentistry were "financial benefits", "job security" and "professional status". "Undertake specialist training" (80.2%) was the most common short-term expectation after graduation; two most common long-term expectations were "having a private clinic" (57.9%) and "completing specialization training" (56.0%). The most important factors affecting the post-graduation working plans were work-life balance and economic stability. It is recommended to provide adequate counseling and guidance to students about potential career paths to maximize a balanced and widely accessible oral health service delivery across the country with more motivated dentists. Qualitative research may improve our understanding of how dental education can be improved to fulfill students' expectations from school, and to motivate dental students towards general practitioning in the future.

Strengthening the oral health system in Nigeria: A health systems building block approach.

The present study aimed to describe the building blocks of the oral health system, including the role that the community plays in strengthening the oral health system in Nigeria. This research was a scoping review of the existing literature retrieved from search engines and databases. Thus, we utilised grey literature, peer-reviewed literature, policy documents and websites. The oral health system was analysed using the World Health Organisation's Health systems framework, and we adapted this framework by introducing a seventh block, community participation. We also inserted the links between the oral health service delivery and oral health workforce blocks of the framework to improve the oral health outcomes. More dental clinics are required to improve the availability and accessibility of oral health services. Dental workforce expansion is imperative. This can be approached by training of junior cadre dental professionals and incorporating community health practitioners to deliver basic oral care. There is an unregulated access to medication to treat dental conditions; hence, oral disease treatments need to be included in the country's treatment guidelines to improve standard of care. The government needs to improve on overall health spending and invariably increase oral health care allocation urgently. Furthermore, the country's stewardship of oral health care is hinged on well disseminated and implemented national policies on oral health. The oral health system can achieve its overall goals with community participation, engagement and ownership. Strengthening the oral health system in Nigeria requires urgent attention on each building block and cross-cutting interventions across the system's building blocks. The role of the community will need to be recognised because it is vital in sustaining any organisational change.

Does Education in Oral Health Competencies in Physician Assistant Education Programs Translate to Delivery of Oral Health Services in Clinical Practice?

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which physician assistants (PAs) are educated in oral health competencies and the relationship of education to providing oral health services to patients. The study was conducted in 2016 by administering an Internet-based survey to a nationwide sample of 2014 graduates of programs accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant. The survey response rate was 12.7% (N = 304). More than half of the PAs who received education in oral health in their professional education programs indicated that oral health curricula were either integrated into one or several topical areas in the base curriculum or delivered in stand-alone lectures. The majority of PA respondents rated their educational preparation as good or excellent in helping them provide oral health education to their patients (54.8%), make appropriate referrals to oral health providers (53.7%), and provide preventive oral health services (51.2%), while more than 40% rated their preparation as good or excellent in helping them identify oral diseases, conditions, and intervention strategies. More than one-third (35.7%) of all PA respondents reported that they provided oral health services in their clinical practices. PAs who received instruction in oral health competencies through the PA education curriculum or from other sources were 2.82 times more likely to provide oral health assessment and screening services to their patients (95% confidence interval, 1.19-6.67). The PA respondents' provision of oral health services was also significantly associated with working in primary medicine or urgent care practice specialties but not with the work setting. PAs educated in oral health competencies are more likely to provide such services to patients, especially in primary medicine or urgent care settings.

Forecasting for the need of dentists and specialists in South Africa until 2030.

To manage the increasing burden of dental diseases, a robust health system is essential. In order to ensure the oral health system operates at an optimal level going into the future, a forecast of the national shortfall of dentists and dental specialists in South Africa (SA) was undertaken. There is currently a shortage of dentists and specialists in SA and given the huge burden of dental diseases, there is a dire need to increase the number of these health care workers. The aim was to determine the projected shortfall of dentists and specialists in each of the nine provinces in SA. The projected shortfall was calculated based on the SA Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) for each province. The estimate for the evaluation of the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) for SA was obtained from the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) Global Burden of Disease website. For each province, age standardized DALYs were calculated with mid-year population estimates obtained from Statistics SA 2018. In order to reduce the existing human resources for health (HRH) inequity among the provinces of SA, three scenarios were created focussing on attaining horizontal equity. The best-case scenario estimates a shortfall of 430, 1252 and 1885 dentists and specialists in 2018, 2024 and 2030 respectively. In an optimistic scenario, the national shortfall was calculated at 733, 1540 and 2158 dentists and specialists for the years 2018, 2024 and 2030 respectively. In an aspirational scenario, shortfalls of 853 (2018), 1655 (2024) and 2267 (2030) dentists and specialists were forecasted. Access to oral health services should be ensured through the optimum supply of trained dentists and specialists and the delivery of appropriate oral health services. Thus, the roadmap provided for upscaling the oral health services recognizes the influence of both demand and supply factors on the pursuit of equity.

A graduate oral health therapist program to support dental service delivery and oral health promotion in Aboriginal communities in New South Wales, Australia.

The early closure of the Voluntary Dental Graduate Year Program and the Oral Health Therapy Graduate Year Program by the Australian Government adversely impacted New South Wales (NSW) Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHSs). This led to the co-design of a small-scale oral health therapy graduate year program for ACCHSs known as the Dalang Project, which enabled oral health therapists to engage with local Aboriginal communities and implement culturally competent, practical and evidence-based oral health promotion activities. This article provides an overview of the Dalang Project and its evaluation. All graduates of the Dalang Project were invited via email and social media to complete an online survey. The survey included questions about their year in the Dalang Project, why they applied, what they liked and disliked about the project, where they planned to work post-placement, and examples of the most significant changes they observed in the communities where they were placed. Host sites were also surveyed and data were collated on clinical services performed as well as oral health promotion activity. Prior to commencing the Dalang Project only 4 of the 15 respondents came from rural or regional areas. Nine of the 15 respondents were considering working in a regional, rural or remote area prior to applying for the Dalang Project. Twelve respondents were working at the time of the survey and half were working in regional, rural or remote locations in NSW and one in the Northern Territory. All reported that they would be more likely to work in an ACCHS as a result of being a part of the Dalang Project. The majority of respondents said they would recommend the program to future graduates. A total of 63 schools, 21 preschools and 15 community health services received regular dental health education through the Dalang Project. A total of 3250 toothbrushes and fluoride toothpastes were distributed to children and families through the Dalang Project. A key part of the program was the installation of refrigerated and filtered water fountains in schools where there was no free filtered or refrigerated water supply. The inclusion of this component in the program was part of the co-design process and links the program to the wider population health strategies in NSW to help prevent childhood obesity. The Dalang Project is an example of a successful co-designed project that has positively impacted oral health service delivery for Aboriginal children and has provided a valuable experience for new graduate oral health therapists working in ACCHSs. Overall, the Dalang Project was found to be a positive professional experience for the oral health therapists with many remaining in rural, remote and regional locations after completing the program.

Cost of providing a mobile dental service for dependent older people.

Dental care provision in long-term care facilities (LTCFs) is often a problem despite the high demand. LTCF residents would greatly benefit from a concept that provides an onsite dental care. A rational evaluation of the costs to render this service as well as the cost benefits is worth investigating. This study aimed to calculate the costs involved in providing a mobile dental clinic (MDC) service for LTCF residents in Zurich, Switzerland. Cost models for setting up, executing and maintaining an MDC unit were generated. The costs included personnel, equipment/material, maintenance and running costs. The treatment costs were calculated for the treatment in MDC, university-setting dental clinic (UC) and private practice (PP). Hypothetical cost estimates were generated for the return of the invested capital. Costs incurred for the institutions for accommodating the MDC visit were also calculated. The set-up capital required to start a MDC in Switzerland (for 2020) was approximately around CHF 505'007.90 (Euros 466'576.80) and was around CHF 452'666.48 (Euros 418'218.56) when a dental care professional (DCP) substituted the dentist. The estimated cost savings for an LTCF resident in the MDC were CHF 205.60 (Euros 189.95) when compared to a UC and approximately CHF 226.34 (Euros 209.12) when compared to a PP. With the dentist, the return of the invested capital can be expected by 3years while it would take around 6years with the DCP, assuming that the maximum number of patients possible-to-treat are treated every year. The daily running costs for the LTCF for accommodating the MDC visit were approximately CHF 299.04 (Euros 276.28). Delivery of oral health services for LTCF residents through the use of a MDC service seems to be an effective model for dependent elders with limited access to care. However, the costs of maintaining this service are high with similarly large start-up costs. Future development of this model by utilising dental care professionals may produce cost savings but with a more limited range of services offered.

Association between primary heath care and dental service use among supportive housing tenants with behavioral health conditions.

Homeless persons are at high risk for poor oral health. Supportive housing can improve housing stability for persons with behavioural health conditions, but its impact on dental service use has been little studied. Data for this evaluation come from matched public service records for eligible applicants to a New York City supportive housing program (NY III) targeting chronic homelessness. NY III tenants (N=5678) were compared with applicants not placed in housing (N=6536) and applicants placed in other supportive housing programmes (N=4823). Regression analysis was used to assess the association between supportive housing, primary care use, clinical severity and the likelihood of dental visits. Over four observation years, 71% of applicants had at least one dental visit for any cause and 57% for preventive dental care. Incidence of dental visits was lower for persons with physical disability (IRR=0.91; 95% CI=0.85, 0.97, P=.003), psychiatric hospital stays (IRR=0.78; 95% CI=0.68, 0.88, P<.001) and age over 54. Persons engaged in primary care (IRR=1.26; 95% CI=1.21, 1.31, P<.001) and outpatient mental health care (IRR=1.16; 95% CI=1.12, 1.21, P<.001) had greater incidence of dental visits. Supportive housing was associated with greater dental service use. The positive association between primary care, mental health care and dental care suggests important points of entry for dental care. Oral health education and service referrals in supportive housing and primary care settings may improve oral health service delivery to persons experiencing social exclusion due to homelessness, mental illness and poor oral health.

Self-perceived oral health and access to care in diabetic and non-diabetic women: A qualitative study.

BackgroundAccess to dental care is of growing importance to individuals with chronic illnesses and policymakers alike.ObjectivesTo explore personal views of diabetic and non-diabetic women regarding their oral health and access to dental care.MethodsA qualitative study was performed involving 6 diabetic and 6 non-diabetic female hospital attendees. A thematic framework approach was used to analyze the interviews.ResultsResponses yield three emerging central themes: oral health impact, self-maintained oral health and dental service delivery and costs. Personal views varied particularly in oral health self-perception and visiting the dentist. Certain drawbacks shadowed the quality of care in governmental and private sectors. Response variations were observed among diabetics and non-diabetics.ConclusionWithin the study limits, female hospital attendees had variable responses on how they looked upon their oral health. A variation in oral hygiene practices and visiting the dentist was observed. Participants believed that governmental and private clinics offered high quality care, with high treatment costs in private clinics and long waiting times in the public service being the main drawbacks. Practical Significance: Importance of supporting patients, educating practitioners and alarming policymakers about the impact of oral health problems and access to dental care.

Oral health care for patients undergoing therapy for head and neck cancer in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa - A qualitative study

BACKGROUND: There is limited published evidence in KwaZulu-Natal on access to oral health care for patients undergoing cancer therapy in the head and neck region. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to assess patients' oral health-related perceptions, practices and needs during cancer therapy. METHODS: This was a descriptive case study. A semi-structured face-to-face interview was conducted with volunteers (n=12) undergoing cancer therapy in head and neck region. Purposive sampling was used to select study participants who were recruited from a public tertiary central referral hospital in KwaZulu-Natal. A semi-structured interview was also conducted with the eThekwini district coordinator for oral health services to gain better insight into oral health service delivery for patients with special needs. RESULTS: The results indicated that oral health care in the sample population was not prioritised. Some of the emergent themes included: participants' knowledge and oral health self-care practices, support for participants to cope with head and neck cancer, barriers in accessing facility-based oral health care (poor access to dental services, failure of the local clinic to provide appropriate care), lack of referral by oncology care practitioners for patients to access dental care, and existing gaps in oral health service delivery The reported non-existence of a specific oral health policy to address cancer and the absence of a risk factor intervention program highlighted some of the shortcomings for quality oral health service delivery in this population group. CONCLUSION: The results indicated that oral health care is important for patients undergoing cancer therapy. There is an urgent need for oral health planning in the province to take into account the specific oral health needs of this vulnerable population.

Dental Workforce Trends: A National Study of Gender Diversity and Practice Patterns.

The dental workforce is increasingly gender diverse. This study analyzed gender differences in dental practice using the American Dental Association's 2010-2016 Masterfile and the 2017 Survey of Dental Practice. Between 2010 and 2016, the proportion of women working in dentistry increased from 24.5% to 29.8%. Overall, female dentists were more racially/ethnically diverse, more likely to be foreign-trained, and more likely to work in pediatric dentistry than male dentists. The likelihood of female dentists working as employees, part-time, and/or in metropolitan areas was 1.2 to 4.2 times greater compared with male dentists. Female solo practitioners were 1.2 to 1.8 times more likely to provide services to children and patients covered by public insurance than male solo practitioners. Gender diversification in dentistry and other factors, including generational differences and changes in the dental service delivery system and public policy, will continue to reshape the delivery of oral health services.

Mercado de trabalho para o cirurgião-dentista no Pará: panorama atual e perspectivas

O objetivo desta pesquisa foi analisar a distribuição de cirurgiões-dentistas (CD) no estado do Pará, visando melhorar a compreensão dos rumos da profissão no estado para direcionar a atuação dos futuros profissionais. Para isso, utilizou-se de um estudo documental analítico, com base nos dados do Conselho Federal de Odontologia, Conselho Regional de Odontologia do Pará e do Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística, para avaliar a relação habitante/CD por município, e essa razão à renda per capita, ao índice de desenvolvimento humano municipal (IDH-M) e às especialidades odontológicas. Os dados foram analisados de forma descritiva tomando-se como parâmetro, a proporção habitante por CD. Os resultados mostraram que o Pará apresentou uma proporção de 1.687 habitantes por CD. Em apenas 13,2% dos municípios do estado havia baixa proporção de habitantes por CD, de acordo com recomendação estabelecida pelo Conselho Federal de Odontologia. Já 23,6% dos municípios não apresentavam CD. A tendência dos profissionais é de se fixarem nos municípios de maior renda e de maior IDH-M. No campo das especialidades observou-se que 72% dos profissionais especialistas se concentravam na capital e municípios próximos à capital do estado, sendo Ortodontia e Endodontia as especialidades mais prevalentes. Assim, constatou-se que existe má distribuição dos profissionais no estado, sendo necessário promover uma política de interiorização dos CD, o que irá favorecer maior cobertura e melhor prestação de serviços de saúde bucal à população.