The Group Oral Health Movement in Brazil

Abstract

Group Oral Health (GOH) is a specific phenomenon in time, separate from other "Alternative Odontology", and a theoretical reference for dental practice in healthcare services. This study is an attempt to understand how long "Alternative Odontology" will remain with the social context of struggling for oral health in Brazil, based on the positions of the founding agents and their precursors, bearing in mind the concepts of GOH, GH (Group Health) and the SUS (Unified Healthcare System). We started out with Pierre Bourdieu's Practice Theory, complemented with Gramsci's concept of hegemony and counter-hegemony. We completed 12 in-depth interviews, reviewed the literature and analyzed the scientific output. We also looked at the trajectories of the agents and their capital between 1980 and 2013. The results show that the concept of GOC and GH as a breach with health practices, which gave rise to "Alternative Odontology", prevailed among those with the political will to defend democracy and Healthcare Reforms. Although GOC is a critical proposal, the older "Odontology" remains in scientific journals, and in the practice of oral care.