Training course for dentists on the assistance to persons with disabilities and special needs of the Rio Grande do Sul state: dentist profile, trajectory in service and municipalities coverage

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the profile of the dentists who performed the 'Training Course for Dental Surgeons in Care for People with Disabilities and Special Needs of the Rio Grande do Sul State ', his journey in caring for these patients and the coverage of municipalities benefited with the program. Methods: Cross-sectional study of exploratory-descriptive character, performed by a questionnaire application in 126 dentists (86,9% of the total) who works in primary care, in Rio Grande do Sul State, and that participated in one of the ten editions of the related course between 2000 and 2010. A databank was created with the collected information in SPSS statistical package. Results: The majority of the dentists are woman, work in SUS and Private Clinics, work on SUS by means of statutory regime with a weekly working hours of 40 hours. 68 related to attend patient with special needs in SUS basic health units. The main reasons given for the no attend were: there was no incentive for managers to implement a program to care special patients and there was not auxiliary staff capacitated. Just 58 of the 496 municipalities of the Rio Grande do Sul have one or more dentists capacitated that attended the mentioned course. Conclusion: The results identified the dentists profile, its trajectory in the care of these patients and the municipalities covered by the program.