Os centros de especialidades odontológicas e o acesso aos serviços odontológicos especializados: o atual panorama

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate, through a literature review, the way that has taken place the absorption of the demands of primary dental care services by the specialist services. To achieve this aim, it was necessary to identify the current overview of care in different specialized dental clinics in Brazil. The National Oral Health Policy (2004) has proposed a reorientation of dental practices to promote, among other assumptions, an optimized service both in primary and specialized care. Thus, the Ministry of Health proposes the incentive for specialized dental clinics which are units of reference for the service of oral health in primary care, in order to continue the procedures previously performed in primary care and requiring specialized care for its conclusion. However what is observed is lack of continuity of dental services at the time the patient is treated in primary care and referred to the specialized dental clinics. Was performed a literature review using journals published between 2002 and 2011, consulting the databases of the BVS, SciELO and LILACS, and the library collection of the Ministry of Health and the modules of the Specialization Course in Primary Care in Family Health. This review concluded that the expansion of secondary care and their investments haven´t accompanied the demand for primary care, reflecting problems in flow reference and counter-reference dental service, causing a major obstacle to solving the disease process and for the integrality of assistance.