Situation of Endodontics in the Public Health Service in Brazil through the Access and Quality Improvement Program (PMAQ-CEO)

Objective: To describe and analyze the situation of endodontics in the Brazilian public service. Material and Methods: Data from questions about endodontics were divided by states and regions and organized in spreadsheets for descriptive statistical analysis, with absolute and relative data. Results: It was found that the northern region of Brazil concentrates the smaller number of services (6.4%). Pre-established protocols with basic attention to the endodontics specialty are applied in 73.3% of CEOs. Overall, 24% of services use rotating instruments and 38% use apical locators; 87.4% perform endodontic treatment in teeth with 3 or more roots. In these centers, 75.7% of dentists who perform endodontics are specialists, masters or PhD in dentistry. Endodontics has the highest absenteeism rate and the longer waiting time to initiate treatment compared to the other basic specialties. Conclusion: The endodontics situation of the resulting PMAQ-CEO revealed that the specialty is the most requested, but services lack more effective management mechanisms to minimize the observed absenteeism problem by reducing existing waiting lines. The situation also revealed that endodontics services at CEOs are provided by specialists, almost half of the services perform single session treatment on vital pulp teeth and that the same proportion of CEOs use apical locators and / or rotating instruments to perform endodontic treatment. Investments in the installed capacity, permanent management and education are still needed to improve the quality of services provided to the population.