What we know about management and organisation of primary dental care in Brazil.

Abstract

This cross-sectional study evaluated the management and organisation of primary dental care in Brazil. For this purpose, data from the National Program for Improving Access and Quality of Primary Care (PMAQ-AB) were used. Dentists from 18,114 Oral Health Teams (OHTs) answered a structured questionnaire in 2014. The data were analyzed descriptively and by cluster analysis. Half the Brazilian OHTs (51.0%) undertake planning and programming of activities. The majority of OHTs (66.4%) conducted monitoring and analysis of indicators and oral health information. The majority of OHTs had performed some self-evaluation process in the last 6 months (67.5%) and utilised self-evaluation results for planning and programming actions (71.4%). The OHTs grouped in Cluster 1 demonstrated better management organisation, followed by the teams grouped in Cluster 2. In the Brazilian macro-regions, the more OHTs were grouped in Cluster 1 in the Southeast (87.5%), Northeast (85.4%) and South (82.7%) regions. The majority of OHTs have satisfactory management and organisation. However, some need improvement, mainly in planning and programming actions based on health indicators and self-evaluation. All Brazilian OHTs need to participate in PMAQ-AB and it is important to continue evaluating the data to improve oral health care.