Long-Term Effect of Anticancer Therapy on Dentition in Childhood Cancer Survivors: An Observational, Cross-Sectional...

To evaluate the presence of developmental dental anomalies, like microdontia, hypodontia, abnormally shaped teeth (AST), and developmental defects of enamel (DDE) in childhood cancer survivors and compare it with the healthy controls.

This cross-sectional analytical study was conducted in 2 groups: childhood cancer survivors (CCS) group including children (> 12 y, m/f) who had undergone anticancer therapy (ACT) before 8 y of age and healthy control group (> 12 y, m/f) without any systemic disease. Pearson chi-square test was used to analyze the difference between the CCS group and the control group for microdontia, hypodontia, AST, DDE and for intragroup analysis in CCS group. Odds ratio was also calculated.

A total of 120 and 121 children were included in CCS and control group, respectively. The prevalence of microdontia, hypodontia, abnormally shaped teeth, and DDE was 17.5% (21), 5% (6), 8.33% (10), and 37.5% (45), respectively in CCS group. It was 8.2% (10), 2.5% (3), 1.65% (2), and 22.3% (27), respectively in the control group. A statistically significant difference was seen in microdontia (p = 0.032), abnormally shaped teeth (p = 0.017) and DDE (p = 0.01). Higher prevalence was seen when ACT began at an early age.

An association between developmental dental anomalies and anticancer therapy (ACT) exists with significantly higher difference in microdontia, abnormally shaped teeth and DDE among survivors of childhood cancer as compared to healthy population. These known adverse effects of ACT on developing teeth should be considered during treatment planning of the children having cancers.