ABSTRACT
Since Oral Health policies in Brazil have been constructed according to circumstances and possibilities, they should be understood within a given context. The present analysis contextualizes several issues of the Brazilian Oral Health Policy, called "Smiling Brazil", and describes its present stage of development. Today it involves re-organizing basic oral health care by deploying Oral Health Teams within the Family Health strategy, setting up Centers of Dental Specialists within an Oral Health network as a secondary care measure, setting up Regional Laboratories of Dental Prosthesis and a more extensive fluoridation of the public water supply.
Subject(s)
Dental Health Services/organization & administration , Family Health , Health Policy , Health Promotion/organization & administration , Oral Health , Brazil , Community Health Centers/organization & administration , Community Health Centers/statistics & numerical data , DMF Index , Delivery of Health Care/statistics & numerical data , Dental Health Services/statistics & numerical data , Epidemiologic Factors , Fluoridation , Health Policy/history , Health Promotion/history , Health Promotion/legislation & jurisprudence , History, 20th Century , History, 21st Century , Humans , National Health Programs/history , Public Health Administration , Public Health Dentistry , Workforce , World Health OrganizationABSTRACT
Since Oral Health policies in Brazil have been constructed according to circumstances and possibilities, they should be understood within a given context. The present analysis contextualizes several issues of the Brazilian Oral Health Policy, called "Smiling Brazil", and describes its present stage of development. Today it involves re-organizing basic oral health care by deploying Oral Health Teams within the Family Health strategy, setting up Centers of Dental Specialists within an Oral Health network as a secondary care measure, setting up Regional Laboratories of Dental Prosthesis and a more extensive fluoridation of the public water supply.
