Oral health assessment in school program health: who and how?

Abstract

Oral health is a constitutional right, with its own national policy which guides the relevance of its interrelation to general health within the integrality principles. This manuscript aims at understanding how oral health assessment and actions are observed within the School Program Health, through a qualitative study performed in the city of Belém, State of Pará, Brazil. The sample criterion consisted of 5 nurses, 5 teachers and 5 parents. A semi-structured script was used, written and transcribed with subsequent thematic analysis. The analysis revealed three thematic categories emphasizing the need for policy empowerment and practice in order to understand the meanings of oral health within the SHP as well as to enlarge its specificity in the interdisciplinary work scenario. Thus, it is clear that for the effective functioning of the school / health relationship, it is of utmost importance that SHP policy is applied and recognized while continuously seeking to strengthen the principle of integrality and extended clinic. The study also highlights permanent education and constant need for the participants’ skill improvement so that both students’ health care and life quality can be fully promoted.