The Influence of Dentists’ Profile and Health Work Management in the Performance of Brazilian Dental Teams

Abstract

To evaluate the association between dentists’ profile and health work management with the performance of primary care dental teams in the Brazilian National Health System, both nationally and regionally. Secondary data analysis from a Brazilian National Programme that evaluated 18,114 Brazilian dental teams, working in the public sector, between 2013 and 2014. Twenty-four independent variables taken from dentists’ profile and dental team management characteristics were analysed to assess their influence on reported “dental team performance.” An estimated score was generated from their performance on 20 dental procedures by an item response theory model. Multiple linear regression models were performed for each Brazilian geographical region, separately and for the whole of Brazil. p values ≤ 0.05 were considered significant. Two variables related to dentists’ profile, “having graduate studies” ( β = 0.151 ) and “undertaking continuing professional development training” ( β = 0.101 ), were associated with enhanced dental team performance in all five Brazilian geographical regions and nationally. The dental team management variables of “having a flexible dental appointment list” ( β = 0.218 ) and “monitoring oral health indicators” ( β = 0.132 ) also contributed to improve team performance in each of the regions and nationally. Dentists’ profile influenced the performance of dental teams from south region more than the other regions. The findings suggest that continuing professional development, including postgraduate education, and strategic management characteristics are important for primary dental care performance and should be reflected in health policy initiatives in support of quality care. Regional factors could be considered for health care management.

Factors Associated with Avoiding Referrals by Dental Teleconsulting Sessions in Brazil

“…Continuing professional development is related to better OHT performances, resulting in better patient care [ 37 ]. In this sphere, telehealth strategies must be stimulated since it provides access to several continuing professional activities, such as teleconsulting, contributing to increasing PHC resolution capacity.…”

Relationship between Professional Training of Dentists and Outpatient Clinical Production

“…Maciel et al [ 26 ] reported the lack of studies that analyse permanent education in health linked to the work process of dental surgeons who work in the Family Health Strategy. We identified a couple of studies investigating the association between dentists' profile and a validated roster of 23 self-reported clinical procedures [ 16 , 28 ] included in the current study. They found that continuing professional training was associated with a larger variety of procedures but were not able to define the amount of each one.…”

“…Despite that, no study has yet investigated the relationship between the training offered to dentists and their outpatient production. Recently, a study described the association between the variety of procedures according to different dentists' profile [ 16 ], but another study showed that the production of SUS is different according to geographical regions [ 17 ]. Due to local differences in the context of each catchment area of the OHTs, it would be expected that dentists with residence/specialisation in family health or public health may have a greater and more diversified number of procedures.…”

Professional Factors Associated with Case Resolution without Referrals of Orofacial Pain Cases to Secondary Dental Care by Telehealth in Brazil: A Cross-Sectional Study in 2019 and 2020

“…Furthermore, previous evaluation studies with different outcomes have shown that well-structured human resources and management factors have been associated with better performance in Brazilian PHC [ 14 , 15 ]. These topics underline the importance of good health policy initiatives to improve human resources and management in qualified primary care.…”