Role of the dental surgeon in the context of violence against women

Abstract

Violence against women is a problem with high magnitude and prevalence, bringing physical, psychological and social repercussions. Incisive interventions aimed at confronting and combating this reality become fundamental, including multidisciplinary and intersectoral actions. Based on this, the dental surgeon (DC) plays an important role in identifying possible victims, monitoring and reporting violence to the competent bodies, always working together with a multidisciplinary team. The present study aims to search the scientific literature for data that correlates the role of the dental surgeon in combating domestic violence. This is an integrative literature review study, where an exploration of the LILACS, PubMed and Google Scholar databases was carried out, using the descriptors “domestic violence”, “gender violence” and “dentistry”, both associated with the Boolean operator “AND” and the descriptor “health”. 31 studies were selected to make up the final sample with coherent and relevant information for understanding the topic covered. It is concluded that dental surgeons, as health professionals involved daily in the management of craniofacial injuries, are part of the reception team and must participate in the recognition and correct referral of women in situations of violence, as they are among the professionals who have the most chances of identifying this situation, since the face is the most affected region.

Keywords: Domestic Violence. Gender-Based Violence. Dentistry.