Brazilian Oral Health Policy: metasynthesis of studies on the Oral Health Network

OBJECTIVE: Analyze the performance of the oriented oral health care network from its implementation, in 2004 to 2020, according to publications on the subject. METHODS: This is a research with a methodological description of metasynthesis. RESULTS: The searches resulted in 600 complete publications (586 in the first search and another 14 in the second search), according to the established criteria. 539 articles were excluded: 151 after duplication analysis, 236 after reading the title, 45 by type of publication and 107 after reading the abstract, as they did not fit the research theme. Thus, 61 original publications and another 29 publications in snowball sampling were selected and analyzed, totaling 90 publications. From this selection, we chose to use the model proposed by the Projeto de Avaliações de Desempenho de Sistemas de Saúde (PROADESS — Health Systems Performance Assessment Project). The study will use its guiding principles on the dimension “Health Services Performance”. CONCLUSION: The analyzed set allowed us to identify that the way the Brazilian State organizes and finances oral health care made it possible to expand access and the number of procedures performed, but not the creation of an effective comprehensive care network, after more than a decade of implementation of Brasil Sorridente (Smiling Brazil).