Economic crisis, austerity and its effects on the financing of oral health and access to public and private services

Abstract

The present study analyzed the effects of austerity and economic crisis on the financing of oral health, provision and use of public services and access to exclusively dental plans in Brazil, from 2003 to 2018. A retrospective, descriptive study was carried out, with a quantitative approach. Data were collected from the National Health Funding database, the National Supplementary Health Agency, the Strategic Management Support Room, and from the e-manager system. The federal fund-to-fund transfer was increasing from 2003 to 2010 and remained stable from 2011 to 2018. The supply decreased at the end of the period, with reduced coverage of the first programmatic dental appointment, average supervised tooth brushing and number of endodontic treatments. Against the background of the public financial crisis, exclusively dental plan companies expanded the market from 2.6 million users in 2000 to 24.3 million in 2018, with a profit of more than R$ 240 million. Fiscal austerity has a strong influence on the use of public dental services in Brazil, which can benefit the private market and widen inequalities.