Promoção de saúde bucal para portadores de cegueira e baixa visão

Abstract

According to the latest demographic census conducted in Brazil, IBGE (2010), there are 6.5 million people with some type of visual impairment, of whom 528,624 are blind and 6,056,654 are considered to have low vision. Technological resources and the senses (touch, taste, hearing and smell) provide great autonomy to the blind, but this is not enough to ensure good oral hygiene, leading this group to a high prevalence of decay and periodontal diseases. To increase the degree of autonomy to these people it is necessary to know what their difficulties are regarding their oral hygiene, guiding them through hygiene instructions that explore their senses, using didactic materials such as textured E.V.A., dental mannequins, plaster molds of teeth, and objects that facilitate their perception. Explanations about habits that lead to caries lesions and periodontal diseases, brushing instructions, and adaptations in brushing techniques are also necessary. To teach brushing techniques, it is best to demonstrate outside the mouth, allowing greater understanding of the process. Another important tool described in literature is language - through it the person can feel all rough regions (with the presence of biofilm) and smooth surface areas, where hygiene was successfully completed, in addition to the use of dental floss. Thus, this study intends to carry out health promotion actions for people with visual impairment attended at a public school in Maringá-PR and contribute to improve the standard of oral hygiene of these people and, consequently, their quality of life.