Resumo

COELHO, Mânia de Quadros et al. Dentistry in the context of a unified health system in Montes Claros, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Arq. Odontol. [online]. 2011, vol.47, n.2, pp. 65-72. ISSN 1516-0939.

Aim: To identify the profile of dentists and verify professional dental practice in Primary Health Care (PHC) within the Brazilian Unified Healthcare System (SUS) in Montes Claros, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Materials and Methods: The study design consisted of a cross-sectional quantitative and descriptive analytic study with 94 dental surgeons from the public sector of Montes Claros. To collect data, a structured questionnaire was employed to analyze variables of profile and professional practices in PHC. The data were analyzed using the SPSS, version 17, and were presented by means of descriptive statistics (absolute and percentage distributions). The bivariate analyses were performed by means of the chi-square test, considering a significance level of 5%. Results: The majority of questionnaire respondents were women dentists (61.7%), who were between 25 and 34 years of age (40.4%), who had less than 10 years of work experience in the field (36.2%), and who worked with Family Healthcare Strategy (FHS) (47.9%). The perception of SUS, as a guiding principle of public health policy, was overwhelmingly positive (85.2%). Respondents reported activities characterized by care, as well as by managerial and professional categories, both individual and collective. Most professionals presented no difficulties in performing their duties.

Palavras-chave : Public health; Dental staff; Work force.