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Responsibilities of Oral Health Technician in the Family Health Strategy in Minas Gerais, Brazil

The scope of this article is to analyze the self-reporting of duties performed by the Oral Health Technicians in the State of Minas Gerais. A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted through telephone interviews, with a representative sample of 231 workers. The descriptive analysis involved the calculation of proportions. It was found that 71.6% (95% CI, 64.4 to 77.5) performed coronal polishing, 63.2% (95% CI, 56.1 to 69.7) carried out scaling of dental calculus and 14.7% (95% CI, 10.3 to 15.4) inserted restorative materials. Regarding preventive/collective actions, 100% (95% CI, 97.6 to 100.0) participated in educational activities, 99% (95% CI, 96.1 to 99.8) demonstrated oral hygiene techniques, 96.6% (95% CI, 92.7 to 98.4) administrated topical fluoride, 77.9% (95% CI, 71.5 to 83.3) made home visits, and 96.6 % (95% CI, 92.7 to 98.4) performed collective actions, especially in schools. Oral Health Technicians have spent their more time on preventive/collective activities than on individual clinical care.

Dental assistants; Human resources; Dental hygienists


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