O papel e a importância do cirurgião-dentista na Unidade de Terapia Intensiva

Abstract

Patients hospitalized in Intensive Care Units (ICU) need dental follow-up, due to their unsatisfactory oral conditions that originated before their admission or developed during the hospitalization period, since they are susceptible to oral infections and other injuries resulting from changes in the flow salivary or oral colonization by respiratory pathogens, causing risks and discomfort to critically ill patients, directly interfering with their clinical evolution and quality of life. Therefore, dental care performed by dentists within intensive care units is aimed at preventing, diagnosing and treating infectious processes of the stomatognathic system, providingrelief from pain and symptoms of various oral alterations, which interfere systemic formin the patient. It is indisputable that maintaining the patient's oral health significantly contributes to their clinical improvement and consequently reduces the use of medications and length of hospital stay. Based on this information, the present study aimed to analyze the role and importance of the dental surgeon within the ICUs. With the realization of this, the extreme need for the presence of the dentist became evident,since the studies showed that the patients treated improved their oral and systemic conditions.