Analysis of public dental services access in Brazil

Access to oral health has been examined as part of the process of integrality in health care. This paper aimed to review the Brazilian scientific literature on access to oral health between 2007 and 2014. From the elaborated question, these databases were reviewed: PubMed/MEDLINE, LILACS, SciELO, Scopus and Bireme/BVS. In addition to the use of quotation marks for compound words to be retrieved together,boolean operators were applied to expand or specify the search for the best information. Valid descriptors were selected and, then, filters applied: full text, languages (English and Portuguese), year, subject and type of document (full article). A total of 35 articles were selected. There was a great diversity in methodology of the studies, as 24 (68.57%) were cross section and 5 (14.28%) were articles with an ecological approach. The highest level of scientific evidence found was the community trial and was used in only one article (2.85%). It was not found any longitudinal article. It was possible to identify the access to oral health as a device transformer of reality, modulated by contextual, services and individuals factors.