The study aimed at assessing the perception undergraduate students of Dentistry have on learning in the area of collective oral health and their involvement with the community, experiencing practical activities. The study is transversal quantitative and descriptive. The study population was 104 students attending the senior year of Dentistry at the University of Fortaleza, in 2008. Data were collected through a semi-structured questionnaire administered by means of an interview. To 36.2 percent of the students, home visits help recognize the social reality. The benefit for the community would come from health education actions, according to 19.2 percent of the students. However, 36.2 percent ofthe students did not believe home visits were of any importance for their training, and 53.2 percent indicated that these activities contribute very little to community residents. Home visits should provide activities that go beyond data collection, allowing the student to connect with the family pursuant to the logic of the humanization of care. Professors from all areas of knowledge should consider proposals that go beyond clinical care as a set of technical procedures for a proposal in which these activities actually impact oral health, striving to attain a greater bond with this population.
dental education; home visits; learning; public health
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