Effects of chemotherapy on oral health in children

Aim: The improving cure rate in childhood malignancies brings to attention on the side effects of various treatment modalities. The main aim of this paper was to investigate the effect of the chemotherapy treatment for childhood malignancies on oral health and on the presence and frequency of oral mucosa lesions. Material and methods: A total of 224 (142 males and 82 females mean age 7.6±4.3 years old) children affected by cancer were evaluated. The children underwent a complete oral examination with recording of presence and frequency of oral mucosities. The subjects were dived in two groups following pharmacological treatment (Melfalan ® and Busulfan ®). The presence of oral mucosities was related to type of cancer and treatment used. Results: The prevalence of oral mucosities in all sample is high (77.7%) and widespread distributed in all type of malignancies. Patients under treatment with Busulfan had a higher risk to developed mucosities (OR=3.4, 95%CI 1.6 –7.3) than those under treatment with Melfalan. The duration of aplasia was higher in the Melfalan group compared to Busulfan group (mean value and standard deviation 9.3±4.2 vs 7.5±4.8 student t-test p=0.02). Conclusion: Our study underlines that oral mucosa lesions are highly present in children affect by cancer that may be connected to the chemotherapy regimens. The use of Busulfan was related to higher prevalence of mucosities.