Concepções de professores sobre o desenvolvimento das ações de prevenção em saúde bucal em um município da fronteira oeste do Rio Grande do Sul

Abstract

The school is the ideal place for educational-preventive programs in oral health, as it brings together children in the receptive age group to adopt these measures. It is also at school that the child spends a good part of his time and has the teacher as an example, being the ideal partnership with the dentist to reinforce information about oral health. In this sense, this study aimed to understand the conceptions of teachers from the 1st to the 4th year of elementary school on the development of preventive actions in oral health in a municipality in the western region of Rio Grande do Sul. This is a qualitative research of the exploratory type and descriptive with content analysis. The study subjects were all teachers from the 1st to the 4th year of the municipal public school who joined the School Health Program, making a total of 19 teachers. When collecting data, the teachers answered questions related to their personal and professional profile and an interview was carried out about the work with the oral health theme in the classroom. As main results, shown if 16 teachers discuss the subject of oral health in the classroom with guidance, however, only eight practice a supervised brushing action with their students. Regarding the work facilities or oral health theme in the classroom, the participants mentioned or oral hygiene facts are part of the students' routine at school and the interests practiced by brushing practice, as well as instructions for dentist surgery in the classroom school. However, the mentioned difficulties were related to the lack of physical structure of the school, lack of support for families, little time for the development of actions in the classroom, lack of training for education professionals and support material related to oral health. Teachers suggest to perfect the work developed at school, a higher frequency of dental surgeons at school and guidance for families, improvements in the school's physical structure, investment in instructional methods and resources, as well as specific training on the topic.