Viabilidade da utilização da pulpotomia em programas de saúde pública.

Abstract

This study examines the possibilities of the employment of pulpotomy of buccal health services. Pulpotomy is an endodontic technique which maintains pulpar vitality by removing the coronary pulp, becoming itself the last resource before the radical endodontic treatment. Its potentialities are analysed as well as the reasons why this technique is not commonly used in Brazil, thus pointing to ways of using it in public health services. The analysis is based on the confrontation between two orienting paradigms of sanitary practice: the bio-medical paradigm, underlying the surgical-restoring odontological practice and the socio-ecological paradigm which is the foundation of the "health promoting" approach set by OMS. Pulpotomy is shown as a preventive procedure suited to the promotion of oral health, in the sense it preserves teeth vitality, in this way contributing greatly to the reduction of an impressive number of teeth extractions throughout the country. The methodology employed is the bibliographic one, complemented by interviews made with some of the main researchers of the area in Brazil. The chief conclusion is the scientific confirmation of the efficacy and feasibility of a massive employment of pulpotomy, highlighting its usefulness in Dentistry courses and the planning for its implementation in public health services.