ntroduction: the pandemic of COVID-19 was officially declared on March 11, 2020, by the
World Health Organization (WHO). Health professionals, especially dentistry, because they
perform invasive procedures, is one of the activities in which professionals are very vulnerable
to contagion of the disease, adding to the great risk of spreading the disease. In this direction,
this research investigated the impacts on the offer of dental services in the Unified Health
System (SUS). Objective: to understand the meaning of dental care in the midst of the Pandemic
of COVID-19 from the perspective of Dental Surgeons (DCs) of Primary Health Care (PHC).
Methodology: this is a qualitative, descriptive, exploratory study, with interpretivist
epistemological positioning, through content analysis. Data collection took place from May to
June 2022, using the technique of individual semi-structured interviews, in a face-to-face
format. Fifteen DCs working in the PHC of the City of Palmas - TO were interviewed. Results:
the dialogues were analyzed and after being refined, resulted in seven categories that reflect the
understanding of the dental professionals regarding: understanding the importance of dentistry;
understanding of the patient during the pandemic; understanding of the relationship between
COVID-19 and Oral Health; the flow of the PHC network during the pandemic; the meanings
of dental care during the pandemic; the self-perception of the process of emotional illness and
the perspectives of the DCs for after the pandemic. Conclusions: the DCs reported that although
it was a challenge due to the risk of contamination, they saw their practice as an important
learning and professional development. The care practice was seen as a teaching about the
importance of self-care with health, the adaptation to work in times of psychological pressure,
reflecting a feeling of overcoming; the maintenance of dental care was favored by teamwork,
recognition of the essentiality of the profession with the self-perception of the importance of
the DC in PHC, and the feeling of professional duty associated with the awareness of the needs
of users of SUS, favoring equity in the care of the population. However, the pandemic of
COVID-19 affected the DCs and the PHC dental care in the city of Palmas - TO with the
suspension of elective care and suspension of health promotion and prevention activities, which
negatively impacted the oral health of patients. Moreover, the fear of contamination and other
negative feelings experienced may have contributed to a self-perception of illness among
professionals. Finally, the perspectives for the profession after the pandemic were the
maintenance of the achievements in the area of biosafety, the permanence of the team union,
the appreciation of the professional and the improvement of the resolubility of PHC.
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