Distribuição dos cursos de odontologia e de cirurgiões dentistas no Amazonas: uma visão do mercado de trabalho

Abstract

The Dental Surgeon (CD) is the professional responsible for maintaining the oral health of the population. Recently published articles have pointed to the poor distribution of professionals across the country, which can be read as a poor distribution of dental services to the population. Although the observations of other authors indicate a quantity capable of satisfactorily serving Brazilian citizens, the excessive concentration of CD in the Southeast and the scarcity in other regions such as North and Northeast make access to service unequal. Regarding dentistry courses, articles show an excess of supply in the country, which occurs unequally, and end up contributing to the failure of the distribution of professionals. Considering that Amazonas is inserted in the region pointed as one of the most deficient, both in the number of courses and in the number of professionals, the present article sought data to indicate if the amount of dentistry courses and professionals of the state is sufficient to attend to population in a satisfactory manner. Using the proportion recommended by the World Health Organization, it was concluded that the number of professionals is able to serve the population adequately, but, as observed at the national level, the concentration of professionals in certain locations prevents the population have equal access to services, and the concentration of the courses, located entirely in the capital, may be one of the factors that cause the concentration of professionals.