A criação dos saberes institucionais na odontologia-RS (1931-1989)

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to study how the current subject of dentistry in Brazil was formed. To this end, a study was conducted of the main laws to which the profession was subject in the country throughout its historical trajectory, up until the current regulation; the role of educational institutions that, together with graduates, worked to establish the hegemony of institutional knowledge over practical knowledge was assessed; and the performance of the various groups that practiced dentistry from 1931 to 1989 in some municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul was studied using oral history methodology to learn about the knowledge, practices and power struggles that took place around the dental services market. Dentistry, which was initially practiced freely, without any regulation by the state, gradually began to be regulated by successive laws after a certain stage of professionalization. In Brazil, in the initial period of the government of Getúlio Vargas, Decree No. 19,852, of April 11, 1931, was issued, which, despite having regulated two categories, ended up resulting, in practice, in three categories of practitioners of the profession, having been legitimized to exercise: dentists graduated from official schools; licensed practical dentists, who could qualify under certain conditions; and a third category formed from other practitioners who did not comply with the law and continued to practice illegally. All three groups were present in the dentistry job market from 1931 to 1989. When there are different groups acting in the same social space with divergent interests, there is a tendency for conflicts to occur. The research problem was to investigate how the relationships between these three groups of practitioners involved in a dispute over knowledge and power developed. The oral history methodology, through semi-structured interviews with descendants of these historical figures, was used to answer the research problem, and was also used to better understand the profiles and some professional trajectories of dentistry practitioners during the period studied. The geographic space of the interlocutors corresponded to nine municipalities in the northwest region of Rio Grande do Sul. The data collected indicate that there was a relatively harmonious coexistence between the three groups of practitioners, at the level of local dentistry practice, perhaps due to the existence, at the time, of a large workspace that accommodated all segments of workers in the area; with the major clashes occurring at the level of the National Congress, through the actions of groups and institutions, using economic, political and social power games to unlock or block laws, depending on the interests at hand. From the 1930s onwards, the hegemony of institutional knowledge over practical knowledge began to prevail in Brazil, skillfully constructed by graduates and their training institutions. Through legislation, the profile of graduates was gradually shaped and the work of licensed practical dentists and other irregular practices was restricted, resulting in the modern dental professional that we know today in Brazil.