Analysis of the scientific production on the evaluation of oral health policies in Brazil

ABSTRACT With the aim of analyzing the scientific production on the evaluation of oral health public policies in Brazil, a bibliometric study of publications between January 1980 and May 2015was conducted, using the SciELO and BVS/Bireme/Paho databases. Forty five papers in Portuguese and/or English were included, and those in duplicate and out of the subject scope were excluded. The classification was carried out by two researchers regarding design/study strategy, the main findings and characteristics of the evaluative study according to the attributes of research in the field. The articles were published between 2002 and 2015. The Southeastern region (48.9%) and public institutions (82.2%) account for the highest production. The highest concentration of articles was in Qualis A2 journals (48.9%). Most of the studies (86.6%) were quantitative and the largest proportion was about coverage and utilization (22.2%) and monitoring of health interventions (20%). The studies’ main characteristic was the availability and social distribution of resources (64.4%). The production in the field has been published in relevant journals in collective health, which confers its importance for understanding the dynamics of care delivery, as a critical analysis and a way of pointing out successful experiences and directions to be corrected in the policies, as recommended in the oral health conferences.