Implementation of curricular guidelines for undergraduate dentistry courses has made it possible to restructure the curriculum in this field in Brazil. However, changing the legislation is not enough to modify the training. The aims of this paper were to analyze and rethink the role of the dentistry curriculum, through focusing on its dynamics, knowledge and practices. The study involved document analysis and interviews with the players concerned with the educational scenario of the dentistry school in question. Integrated clinical practice was chosen as the central object of this study, because this discipline is considered to be the backbone of the curriculum. Four guiding strands of logic were revealed within the curriculum dynamics: integration, fragmentation, professionalization and market logic. These were interlinked, thereby producing a hidden curriculum marked by various contradictions to the official one.
Curricular guidelines; Curriculum; Dentistry; Integrated clinical; practice