Abstract

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammation of the CNS that due to its demyelination nature may present different clinical conditions. Manifestations in orofacial complex can be assessed as the first sign of disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of orofacial alterations in MS patients and relate them to the clinical form of the disease. We developed a cross-sectional study that included 98 individuals with a diagnosis of MS. Data collection resulted from the application of a questionnaire for research into the clinical history of the disease and the occurrence of some kind of manifestation in orofacial complex. It was found that the most frequent type of event was numbness, especially the facial area, followed by facial paralysis, and that the evolutionary form predominantly relapsing-remitting revealed the occurrence of a significant incidence of orofacial manifestations. The prevalence of the analyzed sample carrying MS was female, belonging to mulatto and black race/ethnicity, and diagnosed with ages ranging from 18 to 45 years; the most frequent type of event was the numbness followed by facial paralysis and that the evolutionary form predominantly relapsing-remitting revealed the occurrence of a significant incidence of orofacial manifestations.

Key words: Facial paralysis, multiple sclerosis, numbness.