OBJECTIVE:
to compare dental procedures performed in health centres having oral health teams (ESB) with the traditional dental care model (MTO).
METHODS:
cross-sectional study using Production Record and Evaluation Marker Complementary Report data, as informed by dentists working under both models, from August 2012 to July 2013 in Pelotas-RS, Brazil.
RESULTS:
the study included 53 dentists (46 MTO and 7 ESB); significant differences in favor of the ESB group were demonstrated, with an almost 50% higher average proportion of completed treatments/first programmatic dental consultations (23% MTO and 45% ESB); there was also a difference in collective indicators - average supervised tooth brushing (0.63 [MTO] and 1.74 [ESB]) and average collective procedures (0.05 [MTO] and 2.43 [ESB]), these being 3 and 48 times greater, respectively, in the ESB model, when compared to the MTO model.
CONCLUSION:
the results show that the ESB model is more productive, suggesting it should be scaled up in Pelotas-RS.
Family Health; Comprehensive Dental Care; Community Dentistry; Cross-Sectional Studies
