Bocas brilhantes para um futuro brilhante: saúde bucal como projeto de salvação nos congressos odontológicos latino americanos (1910-1930).

Abstract

This work deals with the dental discourse and the hygienist project manifested in the Second and Third Latin American Dental Congresses (COLA), held in Buenos Aires (1925) and Rio de Janeiro (1929), respectively. Led by their elites, the countries of Latin America attempted to promote a process of sanitation and hygiene with the aim of building new nations, formed by healthy, aesthetically pleasing and physically robust individuals. Orchestrated by strategies that involve control and maximization of its usefulness, the mouth is the target of a process of discipline and normalization. The main issue addressed in this work is the postulates of children's oral health contained in the speeches present in the annals of the analyzed congresses. This research used Michel Foucault's theoretical framework to analyze dental discourse. The organization of dental discourse around the eugenic-hygienist ideal of improving the "Latin American race" as a civilization project was observed.