A IMPORTÂNCIA DA ATUAÇÃO ODONTOLÓGICA EM PACIENTES INTERNADOS EM UNIDADE DE TERAPIA INTENSIVA (UTI) COM ÊNFASE NA HIGIENE BUCAL: UMA REVISÃO DE LITERATURA

Abstract

In the hospital context, there are many multidisciplinary connections, especially in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). With regard to the performance of the dental surgeon in the hospital, the attention that a patient receives in an ICU may be emerging as one of the pillars for the prevention of opportunistic hospital infections, early diagnosis and effective treatment of these conditions. The inclusion of dentists in the multidisciplinary teams of ICUs is effective in cases of nosocomial pneumonia, since constant monitoring of oral health conditions in these circumstances can prevent general complications and consequently reduce the length of hospital stay for patients. The objective of this work was to discuss the importance of the role of the dentist in the ICU. A literature review was carried out with a search in the Virtual Health Library database, academic Google, PubMed and Scielo, using publications from the last 10 years. This work concludes that it is extremely important and necessary to insert and act as a dentist in the multidisciplinary team and in the comprehensive care of patients admitted to the ICU to control the spread of infections from the oral cavity.