Dental Extension Practices: Interdisciplinary Approaches with Different Social Groups

Abstract

Objective: This experience report aims to report the experiences of a dentistry student during the second year of graduation, reporting what he experienced in the course called Interdisciplinary Extension Practices in Dental Care. Methodology: The discipline entitled ''Interdisciplinary Extension Practices in Dental Care II'' began on February 7, 2025 and ended on May 30, 2025, totaling 13 meetings. Professors Felipe Leonardo de Melo Almeida Fonseca and Lenildo José Carvalho Souto Maior were responsible for the course. The course was divided as follows: The first meeting, held on February 7, 2025, was used to introduce the course's rules in conjunction with an interdisciplinary debate. The second and third meetings, held on February 14, 2025 and February 21, 2025, respectively, were used for classroom seminar presentations. The nine meetings held subsequently took place in the format of extension actions, held in different locations, with May 30, 2025 being the day of collection of individual reports from each student in Class 22 of the Faculdade de Odontologia do Recife (FOR). Results: During the course of the discipline, it was possible to learn the different ways of approaching different groups of people, learning how to approach children, adults, the elderly, people with special needs, homeless people and those with chemical dependencies. Conclusion: The conclusion is that through extension practices, it is possible to learn more than just theory and dental practice, we also learn about putting ourselves in the other person's shoes, practicing gestures of empathy, love, care and respect, considering that the extensions placed us in different groups of people, with different realities and lives, contributing not only to the training as a dental surgeon, but mainly contributing to the training of a citizen dentist.