This article is the outcome of an intense search in theoretical references on the university and professor training subject and aims to analyze the training given to dentistry professors in the light of the historical background of the university institution in the world and in Brazil. It identifies the conflicts that put the contemporary university in crisis, identifies the start of the teaching activity in the history of mankind and its history to the present day, and the conditions under which university professors are trained, pointing to how the first dentistry faculty were trained in Brazil and to their activities and the possible implications of this for the present day. Based on these reports, and by surveying the indicator books of the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Level Personnel (Capes) from 2004 to 2007 and recent theoretical references on the professor of dentistry training issue, in particular, we sought to examine the stricto sensu post-graduate work in dentistry in Brazil and, thus, contribute to the debate about the problems in the training of health professionals, specifically in this area. The study was not aimed to analyze the "Pró-Saúde" (Pro-Health), and this aspect may be a limitation.
teacher training; teaching skills; dentistry; stricto sensu post-graduate studies
