Dental treatment needs in hospitalized cancer patients: a retrospective cohort study

Abstract

Purpose: The objectives of this study were to describe the distribution and the clinicopathological features of the most common causes for dental treatment needs during the hospitalization of cancer patients. Methods: A retrospective cohort study of 2664 hospitalized cancer patients that analyzed the main dental treatment needs and dental procedures performed from January 2010 to December 2017. Results: A total of 2664 medical patients were included in this study. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (17.2%) was the most common cancer type, followed by leukemia (14.8%), and oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (10.5%). The most common reasons for patients’ hospitalization were chemotherapy protocols (18.8%), monitoring head and neck surgeries (9.7%), and febrile neutropenia (9.6%). The main motivation for the medical team to request dental evaluation was oral mucositis (22.8%) followed by oral pain or toothache (10.8%) and fungal, viral oral infections or traumatic oral lesions (9.9%). The dental treatment needs most observed were pain due to oral mucositis (17%), dental treatment prior to radiotherapy (RT), chemotherapy (CT) or bisphosphonate therapy (BP) (10.8%), teeth extractions (6.5%), and prophylactic photobiomodulation therapy (6.3%), whereas the most common dental treatments performed were oral hygiene protocols (30.2%), photobiomodulation therapy (prophylactic and curative) (21.7%), and dental treatment prior to cancer treatment initiation (RT, CT, and BP) (9.5%). Conclusion: This study can be considered original in the oncologic context, providing new information about the most frequent dental treatment needs among a large population of hospitalized cancer patients.