Financing national policy on oral health in Brazil in the context of the Unified Health System

This article discusses the model of oral health care implemented in the Unified Health System of Brazil in the last decade. This model was conceived as a sub-sector policy that, over the years, has sought to improve the quality of life of the Brazilian population. Through a chronological line, the study presents the National Policy on Oral Health as a counter-hegemonic patient care model for the dentistry practices existing in the country before this policy was implemented. The reorganization of the levels of oral health care, the creation of reference facilities for secondary and tertiary care, through Centers of Dental Specialties and Regional Dental Prosthesis Laboratories, and the differential funding and decentralized management of financial resources were able to expand the actions of oral health for more than 90 million inhabitants. The evolution shown after the deployment of the National Oral Health Policy, as of 2004, demonstrates the greater integration of oral health care under the Unified Health System and provides feedback information to help this policy to continue to be prioritized by the Federal Government and receive more support from the state and local levels in the coming years.

Implicaçöes de custo financeiro e recursos humanos em assistência odontológica no Brasil segundo o modelo escandinavo / Implications in terms of costs and manpower of using the Scandinavian dental care model in Brazil

Objetivou-se detectar e analisar as implicaçöes em custos e recursos humanos em odontologia de uma hipotética aplicaçäo dos conceitos escandinavos de atençäo odontológica no Brasil. Duas sociedades foram escolhidas para serem estudadas: Suécia, país da Escandinávia, e Santa Catarina, Estado da regiäo Sul do Brasil. A análise teórica dessas implicaçöes foi realizada a partir da determinaçäo das necessidades de recursos humanos em odontologia, considerando-se os altos índices de doenças bucais no Estado brasileiro. Utilizou-se o programa de software "Health Throught Oral Health" da Organizaçäo Mundial da Saúde - Federaçäo Dentária Internacional (1989). Os resultados mostraram alto custo financeiro e a necessidade de se aumentar em até 85 por cento o recurso humano disponível para atuar em saúde bucal no Estado de Santa Catarina. Concluiu-se que os princípios de alta provisäo de recursos humanos e financeiros, característicos do modelo escandinavo, näo serviriam para serem adotados por Santa Catarina e, extensivamente, pelo Brasil