Evaluation of out-of-hours dental service, Recife, Brazil

Resumo

To evaluate the establishment of an out-of-hours dental service in Recife. This was a quantitative study using a secondary data setting design. Data were collected using clinical and sociodemographic information from the entire population requiring an out-of-hours dental service in Recife – PE – Brazil. The time frame used in the analyses was June 2003 to September 2004. The data analysis was divided into a descriptive and an analytical phase, using the chi-square test, with a 5% level of significance. The results showed that 17,878 users requested the service with an average of 1,188.5 users/month. The mean age of the population was 24.7 years (24.5 – 24.9, 95% CI). The main reason for users requesting the service was acute painful emergencies (74.3%). Only 7.4% did not have their complaints classified as an emergency. The highest demand for the service was on Tuesdays (p < 0.05). Post-traumatic injuries were more frequent in males (61.5%) (p < 0.05), even though all other complaints showed a predominance of females. 1 to 5-year - olds had a high frequency of dental trauma (22%) and post-traumatic injuries (31%) (p < 0.05). There is a considerable demand for an out-of-hours dental service in Health Administration Area II and it is very important in providing support at all levels of dental care.