This paper analyzes the meaning of discourse among dentists relating to their perceptions of their place and professional activities within Family Healthcare Program services in municipalities in the metropolitan area of Fortaleza, CE. This was a qualitative study based on interviews with key informants, which used a technique derived from the content analysis method and a dialectic approach. The thematic content showed a perception of contradictions between the dentists' initial motivations and expectations from choices made and their professional identification; their ideation regarding their professional activities; the process of training and graduation; and the real conditions of integration, professional activities and working practices within public primary healthcare services. It denotes a crisis of a certain professional habitus, because of their integration into a new context of salaried work and service provision within the public sphere, differing from their initial expectations and ideation of liberal professional activities.
Social perception; Professional practice; Community dentistry; Education in dentistry; Family healthcare
