Impact of the Brazilian Oral Health Policy – Programa Brasil Sorridente – on the provision of public dental services in the State of Rio de Janeiro

Abstract This study aims to assess the impact of the current Brazilian Oral Health Policy (BOHP), named Programa Brasil Sorridente (PBS) on the provision of public dental services in the State of Rio de Janeiro. Therefore, the evolution in the availability of services focused on PBS, between 2004 and 2010, was investigated. The items discussed were: Primary Care – Family Health Strategy: evolution in the number of oral health teams, and procedures (basic actions, the first programmatic consultation, preventive collective, individual preventive, surgical), per capita; Specialized Care: identification of municipalities that have specialized dental clinics – CEO, checking the progress of periodontal and endodontic procedures, and Water fluoridation: presence or absence of fluoridated water. According to the results it was observed changes in the indicators analyzed, which were different according to the municipalities demographic size. It is concluded that the BOHP favored the organization of oral health services in the cities of Rio de Janeiro, although there are still challenges to overcome.