Late-effects of Cancer Therapy on Tooth Development in Japanese Children

Objectives: An increasing number of pediatric patients with cancer survive and later experience cancer treatment-related disturbances in dental development, which have a significant impact on their quality of life. Developmental disturbances of the teeth occur commonly as long-term side effects of cancer treatment in childhood cancer survivors (CCS).
The aim of this study was to investigate the risk factors for disturbances in dental development associated with childhood cancer treatment and to assess the degrees of these disturbances.
Methods: Eighty-nine CCS with a mean age of 18.2 years were selected from Japanese patients who had undergone treatment for cancer during childhood. Their medical records were collected, and the disturbances in dental development were diagnosed by panoramic radiographs and oral examinations. A Modified Dental Defect Index (MDDI) was developed to describe the severity of damage to the dentition.

Results: The results showed that 76.4% of CCS had at least one dental abnormality; the mean MDDI was 0.46. Arrested root development was observed in more than half of the CCS evaluated (root-crown ratio<1.6). The prevalences of agenesis and microdontia were 15.7% and 14.6%, respectively. A significant negative correlation between MDDI and age at the time of treatment was observed in the occurrence of dental disturbances (r = -0.468; P < 0.0001, Spearman’s correlation coefficient).
Conclusions: Cancer treatment during childhood has a considerable impact on the subsequent occurrence of dental anomalies. The severity of dental disturbances was significantly associated with the patient’s age at the time of cancer treatment.