Dental Caries in Children and Adolescents During and After Antineoplastic Chemotherapy.

OBJECTIVE

To assess caries incidence, intensity, and treatment in children and adolescents under/after antineoplastic treatment.

METHODS

Patients with permanent and mixed dentition were divided into three groups of 60 patients each (5-18 years): CH - under chemotherapy; PCH - after chemotherapy; CG - generally healthy subjects. Caries incidence, intensity (DMFT/dmft, DMFS/dmfs), and mean numbers of teeth/surfaces with white spot lesions-WSL (D1+2/d1+2) were assessed following the ICDAS-II criteria.

METHODS

Mann-Whitney U test, significance at p≤0.05).

RESULTS

Caries incidence was significantly higher in PCH and CH (88.33% and 90%) than in CG (66.66%). Caries intensity was higher in both mixed and permanent dentition in patients under and after chemotherapy. The DMFS/DMFT correlation was the highest in PCH. Treatment indexes for primary and permanent teeth treatment were significantly lower in PCH and CH than CG.

CONCLUSIONS

Antineoplastic chemotherapy is associated with caries development and its high incidence during/after treatment. As dental hygiene was poor in patients under and after antineoplastic treatment, dental checkups need to be more frequent and thorough.