The Importance of the Dental Surgeon in the Intensive Care Unit: Preventive Aspects

Abstract

Patient admission to the Intensive Care Unit leads to pathological changes in the stomatognathic system. Most of the time, due to the absence of enteral feeding when patients are intubated, xerostomia is widely observed, increasing the risk of intraoral opportunistic infections. These infections, in turn, can lead to other systemic complications, increasing hospitalization time and costs and requiring prolonged pharmacological therapies, thus increasing the morbidity and mortality rate. In view of this, considering the preventive aspects, the presence of a dental surgeon in the Intensive Care Unit promotes oral hygiene care for patients, favouring quality of life and improvements in hospital care.