Public Management in Dentistry: public policies for public dental health care.

Abstract

Health care services commonly encounter shortages of financial resources provided by the government. The financial resources made available to fund health care must be increased by carrying out planning that meets the needs presented by the population. In the dental sector it is essential that measures are taken, through the elaboration of public policies, aiming at making changes. The objective of this paper was to investigate the characteristics presented by public dental management in Brazil over the years. A bibliographic review was carried out with a search in the databases: PubMED, Google Scholar of studies and articles dealing with the characteristics presented by public management in Dentistry. Throughout history, the provision of public dental services endowed with low complexity with restricted access has been verified in Brazil. In order to change this situation, in 2003, the Ministry of Health instituted the National Oral Health Policy (PNSB), called the Smiling Brazil Program (PBS). The PNSB institution, Brasil Sorridente, was a milestone in changing the focus of oral health care. The Brasil Sorridente Program brought better conditions and quality of life to the population by providing the means to minimize the discomfort and pain caused by dental problems.

Keywords: Organization and Administration. Public Administration. Public Policy. Oral Health. Dentistry.