LEPROSY LESIONS IN ORAL CAVITY: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ON ASPECTS RELEVANT TO THE DENTIST

Objective: To describe the main characteristics of clinical involvement of the oral cavity in patients with multibacillary leprosy and demonstrate the importance of the performance of the dentist. Study design: A systematic review was performed of all literature located on the electronic databases Medline, Google Scholar, and Lilacs from 2002-2017. Results: Multibacillary leprosy is the most aggressive form of the disease, where the patient has several nodules of reddish-brown coloration, the face is a region of considerable involvement where the trigeminal and facial nerves are usually involved. Oral lesions are observed frequently ranging from 19% to 60% in these cases of greater aggressiveness. Due to this symptomatology, the negligence of the professionals or incipient instruction were analyzed in the diagnosis and follow-up of these injuries in dental care. Conclusion: This is a research topic that is not fully explored and the need for a deepening of the knowledge of dentists in relation to the disease is well known, knowing that odontogenic infections are among the most common factors in the onset of episodes of erythema nodosum leprosum. The need for prioritization of this study is justified.