The role of the dental surgeon in orofacial manifestations of child sexual abuse

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the role of dentists in recognizing child sexual abuse through orofacial manifestations. Methods: This is an integrative literature review, with the following guiding question: What is the role of dentists in diagnosing oral manifestations of child sexual abuse? The bibliographic research was conducted in the PUBMED, LILACS and MEDLINE, GOOGLE SCHOLAR and Acervo Mais databases. After the searches, a screening was performed using exclusion criteria, limiting the final sample to 17 studies. Results: It was found that approximately half of the victims of child sexual abuse may have lesions in the oral cavity even if they do not have any lesions on their genitals. Thus, health professionals who work in the head and neck regions may be the first to identify signs of abuse. Final considerations: Dentists are among the health professionals who least report suspected cases of violence, due to receiving insufficient knowledge on the subject during their undergraduate studies. It is important to emphasize that the presence of injuries alone does not determine the finding of sexual violence, but they may be correlated.