Professional practices in public dental healthcare: case study of two municipal districts, Bahia State, Brazil

This paper examines the working facilities and processes of dentists in the primary healthcare systems of two towns in Bahia State, Brazil, striving to analyze the extent to which factors related to dental care, training, placement and professional profiles influence their practices. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine dentists in both towns, with work process organization patterns in Municipality C being closer to the structuring principles of Brazil's National Health System than in Municipality E. This seems to be related to management characteristics, with networking links among individual, collective, and preventive clinical activities and planning noted in Municipality C. Despite these differences, the practitioners presented similarities in terms of dual militancy and perceptions of the public and private healthcare fields. The hegemony of the private sector seems to be influencing the professional practices of dentists in the public health system.