A debate is conducted on the moral development of graduates from an odontology course, based on a constructivist model. A problem was offered to the students, asking for the solution of a morally based dilemma. By means of interviews, it was possible to qualify the students in one of the five levels of moral development. Main results showed that: a) about 66% of graduates fit the first two stages of moral development. At this level, there is no capacity to make situations and moral dilemmas relative, or solution is found within a logic of personal interest; b) just a little less than 10% of the subjects acknowledged that moral norms and values can be made relative, to be oriented towards attaining a common good; c) law values were preferred to those of life, for the majority of subjects; d) the ensemble of values by which the choice of dilemma was guided was in greater part defined by utilitarian and individualistic consequences, and by the search for rewards and the concern with one's reputation. Discussed next are the potential consequences this moral development profile has upon dentistry, the ethic relations of the quotidian upon professional practice, and the little capacity courses have to solve this problem, seen as fundamental to rearrange the profile of human resources necessary to the country: dentists with good technical capacity and social responsibility.
Odontology teaching; Moral development; Health education
