Oral health coverage in the Family Health Strategy and use of dental services in adolescents in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, 2019: cross-sectional study.

Objective: To analyze the association between the coverage by oral health teams in the Family Health Strategy (FHS-OH) and the use of dental services among 12-year-old adolescents in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, 2019.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study involving school-based research, which adopted the use of dental services as its outcome. Structural equation modeling was used to test the association between covariates and the outcome.

Results: Of the 615 participants, 74.0% used dental services in the last three years. ESF-SB (oral health coverage by family health strategy, acronym in Portuguese) ≥50% was associated with a greater use of public dental services [standardized coefficient (SC) = 0.10 -95%CI 0.01;0.18], a lower use of these services for prevention (SC = -0.07 -95%CI -0.17;0.01) and higher unhealthy food consumption (SC = 0.19 -95%CI 0.11;0.26).

Conclusion: Higher ESF-SB coverage was associated with a lower use of dental services for prevention and higher unhealthy food consumption. Teams must organize the access to oral health service and qualify the work process.