Extensive dental caries in patients with oral chronic graft-versus-host disease

The oral cavity is one of the sites most frequently affected by chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (alloHCT) and can be a significant source of patient morbidity due to both mucosal and salivary gland involvement. The development of dental decay is a potentially devastating oral complication that has only rarely been reported in the transplantation literature. The purpose of this study was to comprehensively characterize a cohort of patients with cGVHD who subsequently developed extensive dental caries. A retrospective case-record review was conducted for patients who had undergone alloHCT at Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center between 1990 and 2010 and developed cGVHD-associated rampant dental decay. All patients underwent dental evaluation, involving soft and hard tissue examination and dental radiography, before and after alloHCT. Any dental caries diagnosed at the pre-alloHCT evaluation were treated definitively, such that all patients were considered free of caries at the time of admission for alloHCT. A total of 21 patients were identified, with a median time of cGVHD onset of 5.4 months (range, 2.2-18.5 months) after alloHCT. All patients were diagnosed with oral cGVHD, with 90% demonstrating mucosal involvement and 95% demonstrating salivary gland involvement. Post-alloHCT dental evaluation was performed at a median of 22 months (range, 4-81) after alloHCT, when 10 patients were diagnosed with gross caries and 8 patients had 4 or more affected teeth. Cervical and interproximal patterns of dental caries were frequently diagnosed. The proportions of patients with gross caries, one surface caries, and more than one surface caries (classified as 0, 1-3, and ≥4, respectively) were significantly higher after alloHCT than before alloHCT, with at least 50% of patients experiencing an increase. Patients with oral cGVHD who were free of caries at the time of transplantation developed extensive areas of cervical decay at a median of less than 2 years after alloHCT. This is the first comprehensive characterization of this severe late complication of alloHCT and oral cGVHD. Greater awareness by transplantation oncologists and dentists, as well as more aggressive preventive measures, are needed, as are further prospective studies to better elucidate the incidence of this complication, identify risk factors, and evaluate the effectiveness of preventive interventions.