Nabila Jamil
Bangladesh University of Health Sciences, Bangladesh
Title: Palliative care: Role of a dentist
Biography
Biography: Nabila Jamil
Abstract
Palliative care is the active total care of patients whose disease is not or no more responsive to curative treatment. The goal of palliative care is to achieve the best quality of life for patients and their families. Palliative care for the terminally ill patient is based on multidimensional philosophy to provide whole person comfort and maintaining optimal function. Although disease and discomfort of the mouth cavity and teeth are integral and obvious in terminally ill patient but usually it does not include dentistry in its team approach. Dentist can have a significant role in the care of these patients by providing total, active comfort care of the oral cavity by alleviation of pain and prevention of infection from oral cavity because the function of the oral cavity is essential to the patient’s ability to thrive. Moreover, Palliative care patient require special dental attention, ranging from operative and preventive care to support for patients physical and emotional aspects of well-being. This review will explore some common problems and their management encountered in palliative care dentistry for terminally ill adults.