The scope of this exploratory study was to understand the viewpoint of the dental surgeons of the Primary Health Care (PHC) network in Florianópolis regarding the need, feasibility and interest in broadening preventive orthodontic services and in the implementation of interceptive orthodontics. A structured questionnaire was used to establish the viewpoint of all the primary care dental surgeons who perform clinical care in the network. The results indicate that: the majority are in favor provided that there is an appropriate structure to attend the needs of the population; the professionals consider themselves unqualified to perform the requisite procedures, so training would be necessary; there would be no need to deploy other orthodontic procedures in primary care than those analyzed; and the main difficulties that might be encountered were related to excess demand and the lack of human resources. Despite these obstacles, the majority of the professionals consider it positive and feasible to introduce this service, which could increase the comprehensiveness of health care and bolster primary care, thereby improving the health of the population.
Public health; Primary Health Care; Unified Health System; Malocclusion; Orthodontics