Configuração da cobertura de saúde bucal brasileira e o acesso da população ao serviço público odontológico

The aim of this study was analyzing the Brazilian oral health coverage and the population access to the odontological public service between 2008 and 2012. It is an ecological and comparative-descriptive study, made from indirect records. The means of the Oral Health Teams (OHTs) in the Brazilian public services varied according to the regions. In the evaluated period, the Northeast presented higher OHT means (64.0); followed by the South (56.0); Midwest (53.0); North (44.0) and Southeast (43.0). The Northeast region has the highest number of population means who never underwent odontological consultations, even though this is the region with the highest offer of odontological services. The lowest means are concentrated in the South, which, after the Northeast, has the highest offer of public odontological services. There was a difference between the proportion of people who never underwent odontological consultations and those who have health insurances (p=0.009).  The access and use of public oral health services by the Brazilian population, in the different geo-economic regions, as well as the amount of oral health teams is unequal. Those who have private health insurances, are female and live in urban areas are the ones who seek oral health care the most.