Abstract
Introduction: Palliative Care (PC) is an approach that promotes the quality of life of patients and their families who face life-threatening illnesses through the prevention and relief of suffering. Oral care plays an important role in patient comfort and effective palliative care strategies for relieving oral complications. Objective: This study aimed to analyze the main considerations of palliative care that should be applied by dentists to better understand the best practices of palliative dentistry to improve the quality of life of patients, as well as mitigate the increase in complications after the diagnosis of a disease. Methods: The PRISMA Platform systematic review rules were followed. The search was carried out from November 2024 to January 2025 in the Scopus, PubMed, Science Direct, Scielo, and Google Scholar databases. The quality of the studies was based on the GRADE instrument, and the risk of bias was analyzed according to the Cochrane instrument. Results and Conclusion: A total of 177 articles were found, and 50 articles were evaluated in full, and 18 were included and developed in the present systematic review study. Considering the Cochrane tool for risk of bias, the overall assessment resulted in 24 studies with a high risk of bias and 27 that did not meet the GRADE and AMSTAR-2 criteria. According to the GRADE instrument, most studies presented homogeneity in their results, with X2=85.7%>50%. It was concluded that the understanding of palliative care has changed. Previously, it was defined as an approach to the patient when there was nothing else to do. Still, it is currently defined as comprehensive care for a patient who presents with intense health-related suffering due to a serious, life-threatening illness. The goal of palliative care in dentistry is to improve the quality of life of patients, their families, and their caregivers. Based on the literature researched, it can be concluded that the most common oral conditions among palliative patients are xerostomia, candidiasis, mucositis, dysphagia, and dysgeusia. These conditions reduce the patient's quality of life, causing pain and discomfort. In addition, xerostomia is an important factor in the emergence of other conditions. Therefore, the presence of a dentist in the palliative care team is imperative to promote oral health.