Abstract
Objective
To describe the challenges faced by local health managers during the implementation and maintenance of Regional Laboratories Dental Prosthetics (RLDP), and identify the profile of the cities with RLDP.
Method
A cross-sectional study using a questionnaire that was replied by 317 local health managers between 2014 and 2015 and information extracted from official database. A chi-square test was used to analyze secondary data, with the existence of credentialed RLDP as a dependent variable and the coverage of Dental Health Team (DHT), local population, Human Development Indices (HDI), Allocation Factor (AF) and data about local health managers being the co-variables.
Result
The low number of dental prosthetic technician was the main challenge regarding the implementation of the RLDP and low funding was the main one related to maintenance. Cities a population of less than 10,000 inhabitants were more likely to have a credentialed RLDP (rate = 2.42).
Conclusion
To meet the challenges faced by cities in offering dental prosthesis in the public health, the system demands actions that go beyond the local public sphere. The educational institutions' involvement is needed in order to meet human-resources training requirements and state and federal levels involvement is required to promote strategies that reduce costs and increase access to RLDP by small cities.
Descriptors:
Health services evaluation; public policies; oral health