To not be punished by law to ensure dental care by SUS | Policy

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (PT) on Monday (8) approved the law that includes the Brasil Sorridente Program in the Basic Health Code. The measure provides for the right of the population to receive dental care by the Unified Health System (SUS).

Created in 2004, during Lula’s first term as President, the National Oral Health Policy, called Brasil Sorridente, is a program aimed at ensuring that the population has access to oral health.

The government has informed that, with the enactment of the law, the provision of dental services cannot be interrupted or put into the background by federal, state and municipal administrators.

Smiling Brazil is focused on expanding the offer of this service in vulnerable areas with gaps in care.

The program offers free dental care in the SUS and is present in 5,200 municipalities.

According to the federal government, prior to the program, the main procedure performed in public services was tooth extraction. After the policy was established, the SUS implemented more preventive care and dental recovery measures. Services are provided at:

With the approval and re-launch of the program, the Ministry of Health announced that it has certified nearly 3,700 new oral health teams and 630 new service and care units. The government expects to have 59,700 certified teams serving the population by the end of 2026.

The file says that 805 municipalities have received new services and oral health teams, and 85 municipalities will receive these teams for the first time.

According to the ministry, the country now has 33,300 staff working and 5,600 dental services in operation. With the new qualifications, more than 10 million Brazilians have now been reached by Brasil Sorridente, reaching the 111.6 million people covered by the programme..

The ministry also enabled 19 new dental specialization centres, 10 new mobile dental units and 552 new regional laboratories for prosthetic dentistry (LRPD).

During his speech, Lula said that he does not consider spending public spending on health. For him, the use of resources in the region is an “investment”.

“Don’t talk to me about spending, because caring for people’s health is an investment. A healthy citizen is more productive than a sick citizen, without the strength, without the quality to provide the service he wishes to provide. Money to take care of people is an investment,” Lula declared.

The President also mentioned that paying attention to oral health improves people’s self-esteem.

“The truth is, people like to be treated well. People don’t treat themselves because they can’t. No one likes to be toothless. No one likes to have their teeth dirty, and no one likes to look ugly in front of others,” Chief completed.

The Minister of Health, Nesia Trindade, highlighted that the punishment is turning Brazil Sorent into a policy of the state, included in the legislation dealing with the SUS.

“This means that within the framework of generalizing family health, we will also have to generalize the entire oral health strategy in primary care, in specialized dental centers, in all procedures that have been introduced,” he said.

Nísia explained that dental care at SUS was not terminated during Jair Bolsonaro’s government, but accreditation of teams and services was banned, preventing new transfers of resources to states and municipalities.

“For more than four years, accreditation processes have not gone as they should. Thanks to accreditation, the federal government is participating financially in this great national effort. This is what we are getting back with these accreditation measures, measures that will serve 10 million Brazilian men and women.”

The ministry informed that in addition to the nearly 3,700 accredited teams, the application received by the federal government for another 2,000 accreditations is under analysis.