Acessibilidade de moradores rurais aos serviços odontológicos e impacto sobre a saúde bucal.

Abstract

Objective: It is to evaluate the access and use of dental services by rural residentes and the impact on oral health of the lack of dental care. Methodology: It is a quantitative, cross-sectional and analytical study, that was made by questionnaire. It was obtained data from schoolchildren rural residents of the city of Rio Pardo, and their guardians, in the period of August and September 2022. After the data collection, they were transferred to Excel and analyzed by the STATA 14.0 program. Results: Thirty four schoolchildren aged between 8 and 15 participated in the study. 65.38% used the dental service for the last time for treatment and 34.64% for prevention, the majority being users of the public service (51.52%). 41.18% of the students had a toothache in the last 6 months and 73.33% feel that need treatment. Those responsible who receive Government Benefit go to the dentist for treatment. 55.88% of those responsible have difficulty accessing. Schoolchildren and their guardians mention having experienced difficulties in eating, sleeping or be ashamed to smile because of their teeth, interfering with their quality of life. Conclusion: prevention is scarce in this rural area, as the lack of accessibility and use of dental services denotes weaknesses affecting oral health and quality of life of this population.