An oral health care network organized by large municipalities in Santa Catarina State, Brazil

This study aims to analyze the oral health care network in Santa Catarina State, Brazil, in municipalities with 100,000 inhabitants or more, focusing on the identification and integration of the network’s essential elements. Primary data were obtained through a structured questionnaire applied to oral health care administrators. Secondary data were collected from official databases and provided by the Municipal and State Health Departments. The municipalities offer oral health services at all levels of care, but they are in different stages in implementation of the network. They have taken some measures to consolidate the network, such as inclusion of tools for integration of primary services to specialized care and reorientation of primary health care as the network’s central coordinating element. Limitations include difficulty in defining the network’s clientele based on epidemiological criteria, insufficient logistics and governance systems, and the need to expand oral health teams in the family health strategy, operating under health surveillance principles.