Abstract
Introduction: Poor oral health is a common and neglected concern in palliative care (PC), negatively impacting patients' quality of life. There is a significant gap in the knowledge and practices of primary care physicians regarding oral health due to various barriers, with few documented support strategies in this area, as well as an information gap on the nutritional aspects that complement palliative practices in oral care. Objective: It was to carry out a concise systematic review in order to present the main clinical approaches to palliative care in dentistry, as well as showing the associated nutritional importance. Methods: The systematic review rules of the PRISMA Platform were followed. The search was conducted from December 2025 to January 2026 across the Web of Science, Scopus, Embase, PubMed, ScienceDirect, SciELO, and Google Scholar databases. The quality of the studies was assessed using the GRADE instrument, and the risk of bias was evaluated according to the Cochrane instrument. Results and Conclusion: According to the GRADE instrument, most studies presented homogeneity in their results, with X2=77.8%>50%. A total of 136 articles were found and submitted for eligibility analysis, with 12 final studies selected to compose the results of this systematic review. Considering the Cochrane tool for risk of bias, the overall assessment resulted in 33 studies with a high risk of bias and 26 studies that did not meet GRADE and AMSTAR-2 standards. It was concluded that early palliative care intervention can be effective in reducing psychological suffering and improving the quality of life of critically ill dental patients. Dentists can play a key role in linking tertiary and community care to promote patient well-being. Weight loss and impaired oral intake were associated with psychosocial distress affecting patients and caregivers. Future research is needed to explore the experiences of patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals regarding nutrition and to evaluate the effectiveness of alternative nutritional strategies.