Dental implications in oral cancer patients

ABSTRACT

Objectives. A study is made of the dental implications of oral cancer, with a view to avoiding the complicationsthat appear once oncological treatment is started.Patients and Methods. The study comprised a total of 22 patients diagnosed with oral cancer according to clinicaland histological criteria in the Service of Maxillofacial Surgery (Dental Clinic of the University of Barcelona,Spain) during the period 1996-2005, and posteriorly treated in different hospital centers in Barcelona.Results. Of the 22 patients diagnosed with oral cancer in our Service, the present study finally analyzed the 12subjects who reported for the dental controls. As regards the remaining 10 patients, 5 had died and 5 could notbe located; these subjects were thus excluded from the analysis. All of the smokers had abandoned the habit. Themost common tumor location was the lateral margin of the tongue. None of the patients visited the dentist regularlybefore the diagnosis of oral cancer. T1N0M0 was the most common tumor stage. Surgery was carried outin 50% of the cases, while 8.4% of the patients received radiotherapy and 41.6% underwent surgery with postoperativeradiotherapy. In turn, 66.6% of the patients reported treatment sequelae such as dysgeusia, xerostomia orspeech difficulties, and one patient suffered osteoradionecrosis. Forty-one percent of the patients did not undergoregular dental controls after cancer treatment. As regards oral and dental health, 16.6% presented caries, and 50%had active periodontal disease.Conclusions. Protocols are available for preventing the complications of oral cancer treatment, and thus for improvingpatient quality of life. However, important shortcomings in the application of such protocols on the part ofthe public health authorities make it difficult to reach these objectives (AU)