Dental management of bipolar patients under lithium therapy, submitted to the clinical method of intervention, giving special emphasis to dental caries, case study

Abstract

The present work is a case study of 8 bipolar patients under lithium therapy, being all of them members of the lithium group of the Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre. It describes the dental management of bipolar patients under lithium therapy, emphasizing dental caries and the clinical method of intervention. The work was divided into three phases, existing a ninety-day interval between each ofthem. In the first part ofthe research, dental examinations were carried out and the patients were interviewed with the special purpose of describing each one of them regarding his buccal health. They were also inquired about their experience in living with the bipolar disease, about the medication taken and its side effects. The patients received dental treatment according to the clinical method as they also attended health educational sessions destined to increase their autonomy up to the dental dismissal. In the second and third phases, the exams that had been carried out in the first phase were repeated in order to analyze the commitment of each bipolar patient to the proposed dental treatment. The questions about the relationship between the bipolar patient and the treatment of this disease were also repeated. It was concluded that the results of the dental exams were related to the degree of stabilization of the bipolar disease; the patients detaining the best results in the dental treatment were those who had the bipolar disease stabilized. It was concluded that, having in mind the occurrence frequency of bipolar disease, it would be plausible that a denfist who works in the Public Service sooner or later would attend bipolar patients; bipolar patients are a peculiar population group that need a specific dental program; the planning and scheduling of these specific odontological programs for bipolars should take into account the disruptions in the dental therapy, caused by the disease and it is also necessary to renegotiate with the bipolar, his responsibilities and his motivation for buccal self-care, which will result in more frequent dental visits.