Overview of hospital dentistry courses in Brazil: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Hospital dentistry is an area of activity that is expanding in Brazil, and dental surgeons qualified in this area bring benefits to both individual and collective health. The objective of this work was to characterize qualification courses in hospital dentistry in Brazil, identifying the locations, values, content and regions of Brazil in which the courses are offered. To this end, an exploratory, cross-sectional research with a quantitative approach was developed. The search was carried out on Google, using the search key “hospital dentistry course”, and 15 courses were included in the study. A script was prepared on Google Forms, with questions to be answered by the researcher himself about workload, region of offering, qualification and training of the coordinator, investment and type of institution offering. It was noticed that the Southeast region and more specifically the state of São Paulo concentrate the majority of course offerings. Investments vary between R$1400 and R$1700. The course load for qualification is met and private institutions offer more Hospital Dentistry courses. This study is an important contribution to knowledge about the provision of qualification courses in hospital dentistry in Brazil. The results found can be used to guide the improvement of the quality of these courses, to plan actions for their growth and for academic guidance in the search for postgraduate studies in the hospital area.