Dentistry medicalization at SUS: a qualitative practice-based perspective

Abstract

This study explores the senses and meanings attributed to dental work in the Brazilian National Health System (SUS) focusing on dentist-patient relations. A qualitative research was conducted with 20 dentists working in a medium-sized municipality in São Paulo, divided into three focus groups and asked the guiding question “What sense or meaning do you attribute to your work here in the city?” Data were audio-recorded, fully transcribed, and analyzed using thematic content analysis. Floating reading, categorization, and peer discussion of the findings were performed for the final validation, resulting in two categories: 1) Strangeness to patients’ needs and the subsequent medicalization of life, and 2) Power and consumption as meanings of practice. In this context, the dental practices showed the differences between patients’ needs and those considered relevant by dentists. It also showed the power imbalance between patients and professionals as a hindrance to patients’ autonomy. Such meanings seem to cause suffering to these professionals. In conclusion, reflections on health work are paramount to avoid suffering and understand that the practice of these dentists bears many senses and meanings.