title: Evaluation of patients with Alzheimer's disease before and after dental treatment.
abstract: Oral infections may play a role in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Objective To describe the orofacial pain, dental characteristics and associated factors in patients with Alzheimer's Disease that underwent dental treatment. Method 29 patients with mild AD diagnosed by a neurologist were included. They fulfilled the Mini Mental State Exam and Pfeffer's questionnaire. A dentist performed a complete evaluation: clinical questionnaire; research diagnostic criteria for temporomandibular disorders; McGill pain questionnaire; oral health impact profile; decayed, missing and filled teeth index; and complete periodontal investigation. The protocol was applied before and after the dental treatment. Periodontal treatments (scaling), extractions and topic nystatin were the most frequent. Results There was a reduction in pain frequency (p=0.014), mandibular functional limitations (p=0.011) and periodontal indexes (p<0.05), and an improvement in quality of life (p=0.009) and functional impairment due to cognitive compromise (p<0.001) after the dental treatment. Orofacial complaints and intensity of pain also diminished. Conclusion The dental treatment contributed to reduce co-morbidities associated with AD and should be routinely included in the assessment of these patients.
authors.affiliation: Hospital das Clínicas, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Thaís de Souza
authors.initials: Tde S
authors.lastname: Rolim
authors.affiliation: Divisão de Odontologia, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Gisele Maria Campos
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Fabri
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Neurologia, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nitrini
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Neurologia, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Renato
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Anghinah
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Neurologia, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Manoel Jacobsen
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Teixeira
authors.affiliation: Divisão de Odontologia, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: José Tadeu T de
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Siqueira
authors.affiliation: Hospital das Clínicas, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: José Augusto Ferrari
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Cesari
authors.affiliation: Hospital das Clínicas, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Silvia Regina Dowgan Tesseroli de
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Siqueira
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology; D004245:DMF Index; D005157:Facial Pain / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D009059:Mouth Diseases / Q000628:therapy*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009909:Oral Health; D009910:Oral Hygiene; D010147:Pain Measurement; D011788:Quality of Life; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D064232:Visual Analog Scale