Objectives: To quantitatively identify the perception of dentists regarding comprehensiveness and its domains of "patient welcoming", "bonding" and "quality of care" in primary dental care settings of a large Brazilian city.
Methods: A questionnaire was administered to all dentists comprising the primary health care service to Belo Horizonte with tenured jobs and 40 work hours per week, totalling a population of 207 professionals. The response rate was 90.34%. A pilot test was conducted with 44 dentists working in primary care for at least two years and who did not participate in the main study. Descriptive statistical analysis involved calculating proportions. No confidence intervals were calculated because this was a census study.
Results: In most items (79.0%), professionals' perceptions about the comprehensiveness were overwhelmingly positive. When we stratified the analysis by domain and checked those items about which dentists had a less favourable perception, 22.7% were in the patient welcoming domain, 25.0% were in the bonding domain and 12.5% were in quality of care.
Conclusions: Comprehensiveness, as an approach in health care practice, needs to be enhanced, and there is evidence that these dentists are aware of its importance.