Accessibility of dental services for Brazilian elderly

Abstract

The epidemiological transition and population in Bra- zil can be translated by the increase in the third age and care difficulties: communicable diseases and not transmissible living among the population. Orientate the look to the third age and identify the barriers to ac- cess to services of oral healthcare is necessary for better organization and planning of attention to elderly. Ob- jective: The aim of this study was to perform a critical review on the conditions or reasons that can interfere in the accessibility of the elderly in dentistry services. Literature review: It was a active search on national journals, published in the period 1986 to 2008, in elec- tronic databases indexed in BIREME, using the descrip- tors of subject: oral health; health services and access to health services, among others. Final considerations: access to oral health services can be influenced by di- fferent reasons, among them, is accessibility economic, cultural and functional. The sociodemographic factors, the perception of need, as well as beliefs and the im- portance of oral health may exercise strong influence on the use of oral health services. The overcoming of the social inequalities and insufficient supply of services has been suggested on this’ review, as a reduction of barriers and allow the increase in demand on services of oral healthcare.