Oral Health in the Children's Preventive Health Care Initiative: indicators and goals in a Primary Health Care Service

Abstract

The objective of this study is to assess fulfillment of the oral health goals of the Children's Preventive Health Care Initiative in 12 Health Units (HU) of a Primary Health Care Service, in Porto Alegre, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, through a cross-sectional analytical study on the annual dental visit coverage in early childhood. The study was comprised of 660 children born in 2010. In relation to the coverage of dental visits for each year of life of children, the health units did not achieve the set targets (100%). However, a considerable number of children (35%) had their first dental visit during the first year of life. In relation to the total number of visits, 22% of the children had never gone to the dentist and only 8% did the recommended four visits. There was a positive correlation between the ratio of the total population and children from ages 0 to 4 years in the area enrolled in the initiative, on the one hand, and the number of dental professionals and coverage in the first year of life in each health unit, on the other. Although few children had adequate follow-up visits in relation to the set targets, the percentage of coverage was higher than that found in the literature.

Key words
Children; Oral health services; Public Health Surveillance; Access to health services