The social value of teeth and access to dental health services/ O valor social dos dentes e o acesso aos servicos odontologicos

• Published in: Ciência & saude coletiva Vol. 20; no. 10; p. 3129
• Main Authors: Fonseca, Luciara Leao Viana, Nehmy, Rosa Maria Quadros, Montano, Joaquim Antonio Cesar
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Portuguese
• Published: Associacao Brasileira de Pos-Graduacao em Saude Coletiva - ABRASCO 01-10-2015
• Subjects: Brasil
• ISSN: 1413-8123
• DOI: 10.1590/1413-812320152010.00172015

Oral healthcare provided by the Unified Health System (SUS) faces the challenge of attending the epidemiological profile of Brazil's adult population. Qualitative research using semi-structured interviews was conducted to understand the experiences, expectations and perception of SUS users to services in Diamantina, State of Minas Gerais, and content analysis was used to assess the data. Discussion of the results was based on dialogue between the symbolic interactionism of Goffman and Bourdieus concept of habitus. The results show that the users did not give importance to dental care during childhood and adolescence because care was unknown to them. There was no offer of treatment besides dental extraction. Today, they value teeth and suffer the embarrassment caused by rotten teeth. However, access to dental restoration via SUS is not possible. For their children, they perceive better access to information and care, but for specialized procedures there are barriers. They express resignation both in relation to the poor state of the teeth and the difficulties of access to dental care, which can be understood by the constant exclusion experienced by them in the past, shaping their actions in the present. It was concluded that oral health in SUS should incorporate the social value and the aesthetic dimension of teeth as a social right. Key words Dental care, Access, SUS Resumo A assistencia em Saude Bucal no SUS enfrenta o desafio de responder ao perfil epidemiologico da populacao adulta. Com o objetivo de compreender as vivencias, expectativas e percepcao de acesso aos servicos pelas usuarias dos servicos de saude do municipio de Diamantina-MG, foi realizada pesquisa qualitativa utilizando entrevista semiestruturada e a analise de conteudo para avaliacao dos dados. A apresentacao e a discussao dos resultados basearam-se no dialogo entre o interacionismo simbolico e o conceito de habitus de Bourdieu. Os resultados mostram que as entrevistadas nao davam, antes, importancia ao cuidado com o dente, porque os procedimentos eram-lhes desconhecidos ou porque a pratica dominante era a extracao dentaria. Hoje, valorizam os dentes e sofrem os constrangimentos sociais que causam a sua boca mal cuidada. Contudo, o acesso a restauracao dos dentes pelo SUS nao lhes e ainda possivel. Para os filhos, percebem haver melhor acesso a informacao e ao cuidado, mas para procedimentos especializados ainda encontram barreiras. Expressam resignacao com o mau estado dos seus dentes e com as dificuldades de acesso, o que pode ser compreendido pelas exclusoes ja vividas que moldam suas acoes no presente. Conclui-se que a assistencia a Saude Bucal do SUS deve incorporar a dimensao estetica do dente como um direito social. Palavras-chave Assistencia odontologica, Acesso, SUS