Objective: To evaluate the barriers for accessing dental care for people with physical disabilities. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study with 191 caregivers of individuals with physical disabilities attending a rehabilitation center in São Paulo, who responded to a questionnaire about information related to barriers (user, caregiver, government and professional) found in dental treatment, visit to the dentist and age of the first dental appointment. Data were collected from medical records regarding age, sex, family income and medical diagnosis of patients. Statistical analysis was performed using the MedCalc for Windows software version 12.3.0. The Chi-square test was applied for heterogeneity, with significance level of 5%. Results: The main barriers identified by caregivers (p<0.0001) were patient fear/anxiety (66.8%), patient requiring accompaniment to access treatment (87.4%), treatment costs (82.7%), lack of treatment at primary health care units (73.3%) and professionals not specialized in dental care for people with physical disabilities (67.0%). It was observed that caregivers of individuals with cerebral palsy reported greater physical barriers for accessing dental treatment compared to caregivers of other diagnoses (p=0.0307). Conclusion: Individuals with physical disabilities face financial constraints, fear of dental treatment, lack of treatment options in public services and, perhaps most importantly, lack of qualified professionals interested in treating such individuals.
Objective: This case report proposes a treatment for dentin hypersensitivity (DH) using photobiomodulation (PBT) with low power diode laser. Methods and Results: Male patient, 28 years old, reporting “dental sensitivity,” diagnosed by anamnesis and intraoral examination, with non-carious cervical lesions (NCCL) and DH on teeth 15 to 25, with different pain intensities, measured with visual analogue scale (VAS). For DH treatment, a PBT was proposed, with 808nm, 100mW, 20s and 2J of energy, applied during 3 sessions, with one-week interval and reevaluation after 30 days. After the first session, the patient reported improvement of sensitivity in all teeth, except for 15, that remained sensitive even during the reevaluation. Conclusion: PBT was effective in DH treatment, with desensitization being observed for 30 days in 90% of treated teeth.
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