The clown and the devil: the identity construction of dentists and pediatric patients elaborated by Revista de La Federación Odontológica Colombiana

Abstract

This article analyzes the journal called Revista de La Federación Odontológica Colombiana, more precisely an article published in 1956 about the relationship between pediatric dentists and patients. From a set of ten illustrations prepared by the magazine, I analyze how children in the dental office created identities for the dentists and how the latter represented the different types of pediatric patients. In methodological terms, the article established a dialogue with the concepts of representation, identity, and difference and with theorists such as Michel Foucault and Roger Chartier. Therefore, by putting into circulation the different representations of pediatric dentists and children in the dental office, the journal addressed a network of relationships that involved professionals and their patients, patients and their families, as well as the cultural codes that circulated socially in Colombia in the 50s of the 20th century.