Dental care for patients with special needs at a private higher education institute / Atendimento odontológico a pacientes com necessidades especiais em uma instituição privada de ensino superior

Objetivo: Pacientes com necessidades especiais são aqueles indivíduos que necessitam de cuidados especiais por tempo indeterminado ou por toda a vida. O presente estudo tem como objetivo abordar o atendimento odontológico de pacientes com necessidades especiais em uma instituição privada de ensino superior da cidade de São Paulo. Material e Métodos: Foi realizado um estudo descritivo, retrospectivo, para análise de 210 prontuários odontológicos de pacientes com necessidades especiais atendidos no Departamento de Odontologia para Pacientes Especiais da Universidade Cruzeiro do Sul entre 2012 e 2018. Dados sobre sexo, idade, diagnóstico da condição debilitante, motivo da consulta, uso continuado de medicamentos, imagens radiográficas e tratamentos odontológicos prestados foram todos coletados e posteriormente submetidos à análise estatística descritiva e inferencial (teste do qui-quadrado) ao nível de significância de 5%. Resultados: Quanto aos tipos de procedimentos odontológicos avaliados no presente estudo, dos 210 pacientes, 24% necessitaram de tratamentos curativos dentários em que a terapia periodontal foi o tipo mais prevalente, enquanto os tratamentos endodônticos tiveram a menor prevalência, representando apenas 4%. Houve alta prevalência de doenças crônicas sistêmicas, acometendo 56% dos casos, cuja faixa etária era superior a 40 anos. Conclusão: Check-ups odontológicos regulares devem ser priorizados em pacientes com necessidades especiais para evitar intervenções mais invasivas como em nosso grupo (AU)

Objective: Patients with special needs are those individuals who need special care for an undetermined period of time or for lifetime. The present study is aimed to address the dental care of special needs patients at a private higher education institute in the city of São Paulo. Material and Methods: A descriptive, retrospective study was performed for analysis of 210 dental records of special needs patients who were treated at the Dental Department for Special Patients of the Cruzeiro do Sul University between 2012 and 2018. Data on gender, age, diagnosis of the debilitating condition, reason of the consultation, continued use of medications, radiographic images and dental treatments provided were all collected before being submitted to descriptive and inferential statistical analysis (chi-square test) at a significance level of 5%. Results: As for the types of dental procedures assessed in the present study, of the 210 patients, 24% needed dental curative treatments in which periodontal therapy was the most prevalent type, whereas endodontic treatments had the lowest prevalence, representing 4% only. There was a high prevalence of chronic systemic diseases, affecting 56% of the dental records, whose age group was above 40 years old. Conclusion: Regular dental check-ups should be prioritized in patients with special needs to avoid more invasive interventions as found in our group (AU)

Inflammatory markers in the saliva of cerebral palsy individuals with gingivitis after periodontal treatment

Abstract The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of periodontal treatment on the salivary cytokine levels and clinical parameters of individuals with cerebral palsy (CP) with gingivitis. A non-randomized, clinical trial was conducted in individuals diagnosed with spastic CP. Thirty-eight individuals were enrolled in the study and were categorized according to gingival index scores between 0-1 or 2-3, assigned to groups G2 or G1, respectively. Periodontal treatment comprised oral hygiene instructions, conventional mechanical treatment and 0.12% chlorhexidine applied as an adjunct. Clinical parameters and saliva samples were collected at baseline and at the 15-day follow-up visit. Bleeding on probing and periodontal screening and recording were determined. Non-stimulated saliva samples were obtained, and the salivary flow rate, the osmolality and the levels of cytokines IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, TNF-α and IL-12p70 were evaluated by a cytometric bead array. The Wilcoxon test, the Mann-Whitney test, Spearman correlation analysis, Poisson regression analysis and an adjusted analysis were performed (α = 0.05). The groups differed significantly in periodontal clinical parameters at baseline and at follow-up. Salivary flow rate and osmolality were similar in both groups at both timepoints. However, TNF-α and IL-1β levels were higher in G1 than in G2 at baseline. Mechanical treatment resulted in improved clinical parameters for both groups. Furthermore, mechanical treatment resulted in a significant reduction in salivary IL-1β and IL-8 levels for both groups after treatment. Periodontal treatment performed in individuals with CP and gingivitis reduces the levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6 and IL-8.