Abstract

RODRIGUES, Kédma Pureza; PINHEIRO, Helder Henrique Costa  and  ARAUJO, Marizeli Viana de Aragão. Dental students' perceptions on their knowledge for dental care of patients with hypertension and diabetes. Rev. ABENO [online]. 2015, vol.15, n.4, pp. 19-28. ISSN 1679-5954.

Systemic arterial hypertension (SAH) and Diabetes Mellitus (DM) are diseases with high prevalence among the population. The dentist needs to be aware about their signs and symptoms, and prepared to assist patients with these disorders. The aim of this study was to verify the Federal University of Pará students' perceptions on their knowledge for management of patients with hypertension and diabetes in the dental clinic. This transversal study enrolled 97 students from the seventh to the tenth period of the course. The research instrument was a questionnaire prepared by the authors and answered by the participants without any interference. In this study, 87.5% of participants reported knowing the care of hypertensive patients and 76.3% the systemic risks associated with hypertension. They knew the antihypertensive medications mostly (62.9%), but 53.6% did not know the maximum amount of local anesthetic with vasoconstrictor that could be used. Although 70.3% of the students claiming to know the symptoms of diabetes and its systemic risks (70.1%), most were unaware of the drugs used for DM (64.9%). It was concluded that the students did not feel completely safe to provide care to patients with hypertension and diabetes, and that more content should be addressed to dental students from UFPA about these conditions.

Keywords : Diabetes Mellitus.; Hypertension.; Dentistry.; Education, Higher..