Although the mouth is one of the most sensitive areas of the human body, serving as an organ for communication, nourishment, sexuality, pleasure and pain, it has too frequently been ignored by professionals in the medical field. Moreover, for the terminal patient it is, perhaps, the most neglected part of the body. A multidisciplinary group of professionals including psychiatrists, head and neck surgeons, internists, stomatologists, psychologists, clergymen, nurses, social workers, radiotherapists, dermatologists, chemotherapists-have contributed to this important volume. It examines the manifold aspects of the kind of care necessary to the patient's comfort and dignity.
Emphasis is given to humanitarian patient care.
The purpose here is to demonstrate that there are ways to ameliorate oral pain, disfigurement, dysfunction, and complications stemming from treatment of other areas of the body, and that these techniques can add to the quality of life for the critically ill patient.