Evaluation of Knowledge of Oral Health of Community Health Agents Connected with the Family Health Strategy

The aim of this study was to evaluate the knowledge of Community Health Agents (CHA) about the oral health/disease process, and compare the results between those who work in Family Health Teams (FHT), with and without Oral Health Teams (OHT). The participants in this study were 162 subjects, representing 66% of the total number of CHA in the municipality, and 81 of them are connected with Family Health Units (FHU) with OHT, and 81 CHS with FHUs without OHT. Data were collected from October to December 2013, by application of a questionnaire, containing personal and professional data, and 12 validated questions about knowledge of the oral health/disease process. The Mann-Whitney test was applied to verify differences between the groups. Statistically significant differences were verified between the groups of CHA when the total scores of questions about the oral health/disease process were analyzed (p < 0.0021). It was concluded that knowledge about the oral health/disease process, of the CHAs connected with a FHU with an OHT was better when compared with that of CHAs connected with a FHU without an OHT.