[The need for, and allocation of, regional prosthodontics laboratories in Brazil: an exploratory study]

The scope of this study was to compare epidemiological indicators of the need for prosthetic rehabilitation in 2003 with the number of regional prosthodontic laboratories (LRPD) and technicians in prosthodontics (TPD) in the five Brazilian regions between 2012 and 2013. Data regarding health services were obtained from DATASUS and epidemiological data were obtained from SBBrasil 2003. The rates of dental prostheses produced and LRPD and TPD were calculated per 100,000 people. The Kruskal-Wallis and chi-square test were used for analysis. The results show that the sex/age adjusted prevalence of edentulism varied between regions (p < 0.01), being higher in the Southeast (13.9%). The highest mean number of missing teeth was found in the North (10.3 teeth). The highest availability of LRPD (1.16 per 100,000) and TPD (1.05 per 100,000) occurred in the Northeast region. The highest need for complete dentures (7.2%) was reported in the North, but was the lowest in delivery of dentures (9.71 per 100,000). There were statistically significant differences (p < 0.01) among regions for both LRPD, TPD rates for prostheses. It is considered that criteria other than epidemiological aspects influenced the opening of LRPD in the country.