Objective: To know the perception of dentists about the functioning of emergency public dental services (PEDS). Material and Methods: Cross-sectional exploratory study performed in Goiania, a large municipality in the mid-west of Brazil. Participated as subjects the dentists of all ten municipal PEDS. The perception was measured by Likert scale ranging from 1 to 5, where value 5 represented maximum agreement with assertions contained in a questionnaire about the functioning of the services. Results: The final sample consisted of 44 dentists (Response rate=70%.) The perception of the professionals, measured by average agreement with the assertions, ranged from 3.54 and 4.68 in a maximum score of 5.00. Conclusion: For all items discussed there was a favorable perception of the participants. In the perception of the professionals, emergency public dental services meet a spontaneous demand, commonly of endodontic emergencies, with performance of non-conclusive procedures and dental extraction. The professionals recognize that there is a need to improve the embracement of patients, as well as to adopt clinical protocols for the treatment, yet there are flaws in the system of reference of patients, in continuing education of professionals and in the conditions of provision of the services to the population.

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Objective: To know the opinion of adolescent school smokers about smoking cessation counseling and treatment, and to investigate whether negative opinion was associated with lack of motivation to stop smoking. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study carried out in Goiás state, Brazil, with an intentional sample of adolescent students, in 2018. Poisson regression was used. Results: One hundred and thirty adolescents took part. Most of them expressed a positive opinion on the three smoking cessation interventions surveyed: medical counseling (76.2%), dental counseling (70.0%), and smoking cessation treatment (66.2%). Negative opinions were more frequent among adolescents who were not motivated to stop smoking (p<0.05). Regression analyses revealed that lack of motivation to quit smoking was associated with a negative opinion about each intervention. Conclusion: The adolescents had a positive opinion about counseling and treatment for smoking cessation in health services. Negative opinion was associated with lack of motivation to quit smoking.

Antibiotics do not cure toothache. This headline message of the United Kingdom’s (UK) Dental Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS) toolkit’s posters and leaflets is aimed at patients; clinicians are expected to know this already. Evidence based clinical guidelines exist to set clear standards for good clinical practice yet there are barriers to compliance. The national AMS audit tool is designed for clinicians to review their management of acute dental conditions, including but not limited to the prescription of antibiotics. In this article we aim to help dental teams protect their patients and themselves from adverse events related to antibiotic prescription. It explores the emergent problem of Clostridium difficile, antibiotic resistance and severe sepsis, and considers some of the barriers, which clinicians have suggested, contribute to the unjustified prescription of antibiotics. Dentists must weigh the risks against the benefits before prescribing any antibiotic.

RESUMO Trata-se de resenha crítica – com foco para a educação médica – da obra de Michie et al., intitulada “ABC of Behaviour Change Theories: an essential resource for researchers, policy makers and practitioners”, publicada no Reino Unido pela Silverback Publishing no ano de 2014.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the opinions of Brazilian dental surgeons (DS) about their roles in Public Emergency Dental Services (PEDS). METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted with an intentional sample of 44 DS who worked at the PEDS in a large municipality in the central-western region of Brazil, in 2013. To collect data we designed, pretested and applied a self-administered questionnaire with Likert scale assertions about the DS duties, referral of patients and execution of dental procedures in PEDS. Post-hoc tests revealed an instrument's reliability of 91%. RESULTS: As their main duty, DS pointed out providing relief to patients' complaints in cases of dental pain and trauma. Regarding referral of patients, they considered typically that they should refer to services at a higher complexity level those patients exhibiting infections in advanced stages under risk of disseminations. Most of them disagreed with performing dental restorations in emergency consultations, while the majority stated that they should mainly perform intraoral abscesses drainage, alveolitis and haemorrhage treatment. CONCLUSION: To provide pain and trauma relief to patients was pointed out by DS as their key role in PEDS, as well as to refer at-risk patients to high-level complexity services and to perform procedures aimed at solving emergency situations, instead of providing restorative treatment to patients.Key words: Public Health Dentistry; Dental Health Services; Emergencies; Public Health Policy; Dental CareUrgências odontológicas em serviços públicos de saúde: qual o papel do Cirurgião-Dentista? RESUMO OBJETIVO: Avaliar a opinião de cirurgiões-dentistas (CD) brasileiros sobre o papel deles em Serviços Odontológicos Públicos de Urgência (SOU). METODOLOGIA: Um estudo transversal foi realizado com uma amostra intencional de 44 CD que trabalhavam em SOU em um município de grande porte na região centro-oeste do Brasil, em 2013. Para coletar os dados foi elaborado, pré-testado e aplicado um questionário autoexplicativo com escala Likert e asserções sobre as atribuições dos CD, encaminhamento de pacientes e execução de procedimentos odontológicos nos SOU. Testes posteriores revelaram uma confiabilidade deste instrumento de 91%. RESULTADOS: Como sua principal atribuição, os CD apontaram que devem buscar aliviar as queixas dos pacientes em casos de dor e trauma dental. Com relação ao encaminhamento de pacientes, eles consideraram tipicamente que deveriam referenciar para serviços de maior complexidade aqueles pacientes com infecções em estágios avançados com risco de disseminação. Muitos deles discordavam com a realização de restauração dental nas consultas de urgência, enquanto que a maioria considerou que deveria executar drenagem intraoral de abscessos, tratamento de alveolite e hemorragia. CONCLUSÃO: Os CD reconheceram que prover alívio aos pacientes com dor e trauma é o seu principal papel nos SOU, além de referenciar pacientes de risco para unidades de maior complexidade e realizar procedimentos clínicos voltados à resolu...

RESUMO Trata-se da resenha da obra The behaviour change wheel: a guide to designing interventions, de Michie, Atkins e West, publicada no Reino Unido pela Silverback Publishing em 2014.

Objetivo: Conhecer a opinião de escolares adolescentes fumantes sobre aconselhamento e tratamento para cessação do tabagismo, e investigar se uma opinião negativa estava associada à falta de motivação para parar de fumar. Métodos: Estudo transversal, realizado no estado de Goiás, Brasil, com amostra intencional de escolares adolescentes, em 2018. Utilizou-se regressão de Poisson. Resultados: Participaram 130 adolescentes. A maioria manifestou opinião positiva sobre as três intervenções para cessação do tabagismo pesquisadas: aconselhamento médico (76,2%), aconselhamento odontológico (70,0%) e tratamento para cessação (66,2%). Opiniões negativas foram mais frequentes entre jovens desmotivados a abandonar o tabagismo (p<0,05). Análises de regressão revelaram a falta de motivação para parar de fumar associada à opinião negativa sobre cada uma das três intervenções. Conclusão: Os adolescentes apresentaram opinião positiva sobre oferta de aconselhamento e tratamento para cessação do tabagismo em serviços de saúde. Opinião negativa foi associada à falta de motivação para cessar o tabagismo.