Introduction
Occupational Dentistry is a specialty recently acknowledged by the Federal
Council of Dentistry that seeks to prevent work-related oral health issues.
It aims to improve workers’ quality of life and promote a more efficient
productive development.
Objectives
This study aimed to investigate whether the subject of Occupational Dentistry
was included in the curriculum of undergraduate Dentistry courses in
Southeast Brazil.
Methods
The curriculum of universities registered on the Brazilian Ministry of
Health’s website (e-MEC) were analyzed regarding type of university
administration (private or public), inclusion of Occupational Dentistry in
the curriculum of Dentistry courses, whether the subject was compulsory or
not, and subject workload. Universities that did not make the course
curriculum available on their website were excluded from the analysis.
Results
Of 176 universities registered on e-MEC, 144 were included in the study. Most
universities (86.9%) were private, whereas only 13.1% were public.
Occupational Dentistry was available in 10 universities. The subject was
compulsory in 4 and optional in another 4 universities, with a total mean
workload of 37.5 hours. Two universities did not disclose this
information.
Conclusions
Our analysis allowed the investigation of the overall inclusion of
Occupational Dentistry in the curriculum of Dentistry courses in Southeast
Brazil. Only a small percentage of universities (6.9%), mostly private,
included the subject in the course curriculum, usually on a compulsory
basis.