INTRODUCTION: In the current context, Dentistry seeks to form a competent professional and technical skills to work in health services. In the process of training participation in university extension program expands the possibilities for learning by allowing the experience between the academic and community settings. OBJECTIVE: To determine the importance of the orientations and the actions developed in a university extension program in the professional qualification of dentists graduated at a public university. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A cross sectional observational study was performed. The study population was composed of 268 dentists who had participated at an extension project of the dentistry course at the Universidade Federal do Piauí - Preventive Program for Pregnant Mothers and Babies, in the period from 1997 to 2011. Questionnaires containing questions regarding the importance the university extension program to the qualification of the professional activities of former trainees were send to the dentists. RESULT: The percentage of response was 52.6%, 141 dentists answered to the questionnaire. The results showed that 98.6% of the subjects rated the Preventive Preventive Program for Pregnant Mothers and Babies, 91.5%, reported that they apply the knowledge acquired in the project in their professional routine; 28.4% have implemented similar programs, 85.8% of pregnant women meet in their daily work and of these, 19.8% reported difficulty in attendance, 69.5% attend babies in their daily work and of those, 63.3% feel qualified to perform clinical procedures. CONCLUSION: Informations and actions developed in the Preventive Program for Pregnant Mothers and Babies produced positive impact on the professional qualification of dentists who attended the program, contributing to their clinical security during the dental attendance of pregnant women and babies.
Health services; education, dental; pregnant women; child health; community-institutional relations