Saúde bucal em portadores de hanseníase

Abstract

The Hansen s leprosy is an infective disease transmited from person to person, through contact with non treated cases (lepromatous or borderline). Leprosy, as it was Knonwn before,is caused by the microorganism Mycobacterium Leprae or Hansen Bacillus. Along the history of Hansen s leprosy, it has been observed a constant increase of the number of the cases.However, in the last ten years, it was verified a decrease in the number of sick people,principally in endemic countries. The reasons for this declination are the effective treatment through the polichemotherapy (PQT), the precocious diagnosis of the disease and the reorganization of the programs of control. The Hansen s leprosy is divided in four clinical types: indeterminate, tuberculoid, lepromatous and borderline. The alterations of the oral mucosa by the Hansen s leprosy vary according to the clinical type of the disease. This study had as objective, verify the conditions of the oral health in 100 Hansen s leprosy patients treated or in treatment, of Lauro de Souza Lima Institute, Bauru-SP, through a epidemiological survey, using a modified specific form of evaluation of the oral health of WHO/1997, as well as the use of a own protocol of study and a form of test of the oral cavity, providing a better understanding of the oral pathologies found. The results obtained showed that the oral health of the Hansen s leprosy people that were examined, were considered scarce because of the high index DMFT (16.07). In the different clinical types of the Hansen s leprosy, the distribution of index DMFT was considered homogeneous. In patients treated or in treatment, there wasn t any statistically significant difference, as to DMFT (p=0.62) and as to the need of any odontologic treatment, the distribution was considered homogeneous. Through clinical test, it was not apparently found in the sample any oral lesion that could be related to the Hansen s leprosy.