Resumo

ZUCHINI, André Richard Bibiano; LOLLI, Maria Carolina Gobbi dos Santos; LOLLI, Luiz Fernando  e  LOLLI, Hugo Alberto. Professional profile of dental surgeons as regards their knowledge and use of marketing. Arq. Odontol. [online]. 2012, vol.48, n.1, pp. 19-25. ISSN 1516-0939.

Aim: The present work aimed to verify the professional profile of dental surgeons as regards their professional knowledge and use of marketing. Materials and Methods: This research consists of a qualitative-quantitative cross-sectional study carried out with 52 professionals working in the municipalities of Maringá and Marialva, both in the northwestern regions of the state of Paraná, Brazil. The analysis tool was a structured and selfapplied questionnaire, comprised of open and closed questions containing variables on professional profile, knowledge, and use of marketing. Data collection was carried out in the workplaces of those interviewed during the months of August and September 2010. Results: Most of the individuals were between 20 and 30 years of age (60%) and had less than 5 years experience in the profession (42%), with the majority coming from private institutions (56%). In all, 26 were self-employed (50%), working in medical offices or private clinics (fully self-employed workers), while 26 (50%) were self-employed but had some link to public services (partially self-employed workers). It could be observed that the fully self-employed dentists (p=0.01) used more marketing strategies than did the partially self-employed dentists. Concerning the other associations between job profile and knowledge/use of marketing no statistically significant differences could be observed. Conclusion: According to the study's results, it could be concluded that knowledge about marketing and its use still does not seem to be a consensus in dentistry, nor does it depend on the dentist's professional profile.

Palavras-chave : Dentistry; Marketing of health service.