Factors associated with conducting planning for secondary oral health care services in Brazil

Background Planning in health services specifically aims to improve the health status of a given population, guaranteeing access with equity and justice, as well as streamlining the response of the health system to the needs perceived by the community. This research aims to identify the factors associated with planning Specialized Dental Clinics (SDCs). Methods Secondary data were used from the external evaluation of the database of the first National Program for Access and Quality Improvement of SDCs (NPAQI–SDCs) and the informed Outpatient Information System of the Unified Health System (OIS/UHS), which contains data on the specialized dental procedures performed at SDCs. It consisted of a quantitative study in which Pearson chi-square statistical tests (p < 0.05) and a multivariate logistic regression were applied with odds ratio (OR) estimate. Results The results indicated that the realization of planning in SDCs was associated with lower coverage of the Oral Health Team of the Familiy Health Strategy in a municipality (OR = 1.4; 95% CI: 1.0–1.9, p = 0.049), additional training for managers ( p = 0.038), the practice of self-assessment (OR = 8.2; 95% CI: 5.8–11.6; p = 0.000) and meeting service production targets (OR = 1.9; 95% CI: 1.2–3.2; p = 0.011). Conclusion The results indicate that the work processes of the SDCs, especially with regard to service management, are essential to the proper functioning of the service and the practice of planning is linked to the technical capacity and commitment of service managers.