Times series of dental emergency attendance in Brazil between 2008 and 2015

Abstract

The option to use emergency dental services is dependent upon the social, epidemiological and organizational conditions of the health services. In order to evaluate the specific emergency indicators in the care network for understanding access and performance, a time series study of emergency dental care according to the codes of care by health facilities in Brazil from 2008 to 2015 was carried out. Health services were grouped into primary and secondary care points and total services. Secondary services were subdivided into specialized and hospital services. The primary care group accounted for 72.75% of the emergency care and the mean of the standardized rate of total emergencies was 0.04 visits per inhabitant. The trend for total services was stable, though there was growth in primary health care services (5.58%/year). The results highlight the participation of primary health care services in the care of dental emergencies, followed by specialized and hospital services, which is in line with the assumption of the inverse relationship between the capacity of emergency dental care service and its technological density.

Key words:
Emergencies; Oral health; Health services; Delivery of health care