Ethics and morals: reflections of public health service dentists

Abstract This study aimed to analyze the ethical dimension experienced by dentists in the professional practice of a city in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, in order to contribute to the improvement of the work of these professionals. This is a qualitative study with content analysis. A semi-structured interview was used to collect data and eight dentist participated in the sample. The results show that there are flaws in the understanding of the Código de Ética Odontológico (Dentistry Code of Ethics) by most dentists, and little knowledge of professional ethics, leading to a lack of reflections on their daily practice. The study suggests that ethical flaws may be related to the content taught in the training of professionals in which the healing practice was predominant with focus on the technical aspects and little emphasis on knowledge aimed at humanization, prevention and health promotion.