Prestadores de serviços odontológicos e operadora de plano privado exclusivamente odontológico: estudo no município de Salvador.

Abstract

Objective: This study analyzed the commercial relationship between dental service providers and the Odontoprev operator, in the municipality of Salvador/BA, in the year 2023. Methodology: This was a study of the dentistry economic field from Pierre Bourdieu's perspective, with a qualitative approach carried out with clinics providing dental services, allowing us to explore the different perceptions of the conflictual relationships of the parties represented here, above all substantiating the various points of view. Results: There are commercial conflicts between operators and providers, and the main nature of these conflicts is related to denials of procedures and the low amounts paid for them. The majority of dental clinic owners seek accreditation mainly in order to increase the flow of patients in their practice or to attract these patients for private procedures for which the operator does not offer cover. The procedure most often carried out by providers is supragingival scraping, smoothing and polishing, due to the lower cost of materials and the dental laboratory. The higher the number of employees and dental chairs, the higher the turnover, which is also reflected in the number of dental chairs. The more chairs available, the greater the number of procedures and potential profit. It can be seen that the chargeback is the main conflict between the providers and the operator, apart from the administrative ones, which refer to the filling in of the forms with administrative information between the providers and the operator. The price paid by the operator for the procedure seems to be tacitly accepted. Conclusion: In the economic field, agents are obliged to submit their choices to the logic of maximizing profits, otherwise they will be eliminated from the market. In this case, a profit limited by the low value of the dental plans paid by customers. Since competition is a fundamental element, the concentration of operators is advantageous for Odontoprev since there is competition between 222 providers to attract their clients. Collective health, as a movement focused on transformations in society and as a field of knowledge and practice, includes both state action and a commitment to society to produce healthy environments and populations, including oral health. In order to understand the recent transformations in the market, further research is needed into dental franchises, which have a different logic to health insurance companies. There is also a need for more research into the prices and quality of dental services and the production of oral health in these groups, as well as the need for better data on private dental service providers.