Oral health condition, status of hygiene and food habits in children undergoing anticancer therapy

Introduction
Anticancer treatment is a challenge for children themselves, as well as for their guardians and medical personnel; it is associated with numerous side effects of the implemented therapy such as neutropenia, mucositis, taste disorders, nausea, and lack of appetite affecting the condition of oral cavity.
Objectives: The authors want to estimate the oral health care condition in young patients undergoing anticancer treatment and analyze the self-reported hygiene and food habits.

Material and methods
Dental examinations were conducted in children treated in the Oncology, Hematology and Chemotherapy Ward. Intraoral examination was conducted in the artificial light and a disposable diagnostic set. The oral cavity hygiene was defined by means of the plaque index (PI) indicator by Silness and Löe and the Simplified Oral Hygiene Index (OHI-S) according to Greene and Vermillion only in patients with mixed or permanent dentition. A short survey was also done, with questions about the eating habits and hygienic habits of a patient (frequency of brushing teeth, kind of toothpaste, additional oral cavity hygiene substances and fluoride prevention program). The last part of the survey comprised questions associated with a patient’s subjective feelings.

Results
The value of the PI indicator in the examined children was 0.75. The average value of the DI-S component of the OHI-S was 0.84. The survey examination revealed that 97% of the children used a toothpaste with fluoride. Additional means of maintaining oral cavity hygiene were followed by 50% of the examined patients. Only 9% of the patients have a habit of quenching their thirst with water.

Conclusions
In the light of the presented results, it seems necessary to undertake further systemic measures aiming to improve the oral hygiene condition of children undergoing cancer therapy and the education level of parents on the subject of diet.