HUMANIZED DENTAL CARE IN A HEALTH UNIT (UBS)

Abstract

Humanization in dental care in Primary Health Care Units (PHCUs) represents an essential paradigm in reorienting the care model, transcending operative technique to focus on welcoming, bonding, and comprehensive care. This is a narrative literature review of recent scientific evidence on the practices, challenges, and impacts of humanization in dental care within the context of Primary Health Care in PHCUs. The search was conducted in the electronic databases LILACS, PubMed, MEDLINE, SciELO, and BIREME, in addition to consulting institutional documents of the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS) and the virtual library Saúde Legis. The following descriptors and their English equivalents were used: “humanization in dentistry”, “dentistry in the SUS”, “National Humanization Policy”, “primary dental care”, and “PHCUs and oral health”. Scientific articles in Portuguese and English, published in the last 10 years, were included. The results indicate that humanizing dental care in Primary Care is fundamental to improving the quality of care and strengthening the bond between professionals and users. Despite advances with the inclusion of Dentistry in the Family Health Strategy and the guidelines of the National Humanization Policy (PNH), challenges related to management, infrastructure, and team integration persist. Humanization in Oral Care constitutes a structuring axis for improving the quality of care, demanding the overcoming of managerial and training challenges to implement practices such as bonding, active listening, and welcoming, in alignment with the principles of the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS).