Abstract

DADALTO, Elâine Cristina Vargas; ROSA, Edinete Maria  and  TRINDADE, Zeidi Araújo. Social Representations of Dental Students about Attendance in Pediatric Dental Clinic. Estud. pesqui. psicol. [online]. 2021, vol.21, n.1, pp. 30-50. ISSN 1808-4281.  http://dx.doi.org/10.12957/epp.2021.59368.

The objective was to analyze the social representations built by dental students about the care provided to children. The target population of the study was made up of undergraduate students in Dentistry from Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo (UFES), interviewed in the 10th period, after attending the disciplines of pediatric dentistry. The responses to guiding questions were recorded in audio, submitted to content analysis and interpreted by the procedural approach of social representations. Twenty-six students, with a mean of 23.8±1.4 years of age, participated and the semi-structured interview theme involved previous expectations and clinical experience. The representations that emerged went through the process of organization into categories. The social representations constructed by dental students about the care of children were related to the rewarding and useful experience, although this experience may have been complex and challenging. In addition, from the perspective of the students, it is necessary to have patience, be understanding with the child, express affection in the attendance, gain confidence and use creativity.

Keywords : social representation; students; dentistry; pediatric dentistry.

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