Resumo

COSTA, Sérgio Carvalho et al. Immediate complete denture: returning the smile and function to the patient. Arq. Odontol. [online]. 2011, vol.47, suppl.2, pp. 106-110. ISSN 1516-0939.

Total tooth loss is one of the worst clinical situations that can be found in Dentistry, which may cause a reduction in masticatory ability and a consequent interference in food digestion. In addition, this condition may harm aesthetics and phonation. This situation contributes to decreasing one's quality of life and self-esteem. Another problem to be faced, when total prostheses are recommended, lies exactly in the fact that the patients refuse to go toothless while they await bone and tissue repair, and a later manufacture of the prosthesis. The School of Dentistry from Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG) offers a specific discipline in which treatments are offered to toothless patients who need to receive total removable prostheses (TRP). Nevertheless, patients who still have some remaining teeth, and who have been recommended for tooth extraction, had no other option than to undergo tooth extraction and wait for the proper healing of the rim before beginning treatment with the conventional TRP. The implementation of the Immediate Total Prosthesis Project (ITPP) aimed to fill this void in the curriculum as well as in patient treatments. The Immediate Total Prosthesis (ITP) is considerated a TRP that is installed immediately after the extraction and during the same clinical treatment. The present work aims to present the ITPP to the academic community, showing that it is a project with assistance characteristics and a practical/theoretical nature geared toward undergraduate students and patients from the UFMG School of Dentistry. With a defined dental service protocol and a dynamic means of action, it can be observed that the objectives have been achieved, revealing an interaction among learning, research and the generation of knowledge; a strong impact on the academic education of the participing students; interdisciplinarity through the exchange of knowledge with field of surgery; and a positive dialogic relationship with the community. The conclusion is that the project has been satisfactorily reaching its objectives, benefiting both students and patients.

Palavras-chave : Immediate complete denture.; Health services coverage.; Tooth extraction.; Oral surgery.; Quality of life.; Esthetics.; Mastication..