Exploring professionalization among Brazilian oral health technicians
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Exploring professionalization among Brazilian oral health technicians Carla Aparecida Sanglard-Oliveira, Marcos Azeredo Furquim Werneck, Simone Dutra Lucas and Mauro Henrique Nogueira Guimarães Abreu*
Abstract Professional dental auxiliaries emerged in the early 20th century in the United States of America and quickly spread to Europe and other regions of the world. In Brazil, however, oral health technicians (OHTs), who occupy a similar role as dental hygienists, had a long journey before the occupation achieved legal recognition: Brazilian Law 11.889, which regulates this occupation in the country, was only enacted in 2008. The aim of this paper is to review the literature on the professionalization of OHTs, highlighting the triggering, limiting and conflicting aspects that exerted an influence on the historical progress of these professionals in Brazil. We have tested Abbott’s and Larson’s theory on professionalization, against the history of OHTs. A number of different dental corporative interests exerted an influence over professionalization, especially in discussions regarding the permissible activities of these professionals in the oral cavity of patients. With primary health care advances in Brazil, the importance of these professionals has once again come to the forefront. This seems to be a key point in the consolidation of OHTs in the area of human resources for health in Brazil. Keywords: Dental auxiliaries, Dental hygienists, Dental assistants, Professionalization
Background An oral health technician (OHT) is a dental auxiliary in Brazil. As with other auxiliary categories, they emerged in order to streamline dental work, increase productivity, increase quality and contribute toward scientifictechnological development and changes in healthcare practices. The incorporation of these workers into health care services has allowed for an increase in patient coverage as well as changes in human resources in healthcare services [1]. OHTs are fundamental to the promotion of oral health as well as the prevention of and treatment of oral health diseases in both the public and private sectors on both the individual and population levels [2,3]. In Brazil, OHTs are part of the oral health team present in the “Family Health Team”, which was established with the consolidation of the public healthcare system [4]. These teams conduct their work based on the following principles: universality, equity and integrality [5] established by the Brazilian public healthcare system.
* Correspondence: [email protected] Av. Antônio Carlos, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais 6627 CEP 31270.901, Brazil
The teams underlie the organizational strategy for healthcare services in Brazil [6]. There is a relatively international consensus on the advantage of public healthcare systems based on primary health care [7]. Despite the importance of OHTs, it was only in 2008 that a Brazilian federal Law 11.889 was enacted [8]. This Law has historical importance for OHTs. The professional identity of OHTs (previously
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