Oro-Dental Findings in Pediatric Liver and Kidney Transplant Recipients

We aimed to evaluate the effects of transplant, as well as the immunosuppressive agents used in liver transplant and kidney transplant recipients, on the incidence of dental caries, tooth and bone anomalies, and dental age.

We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 175 pediatric patients who underwent liver transplant and kidney transplant at Baskent University between 2011 and 2023. We included 92 patients whose data were available. We examined patient demographic characteristics, their immunosuppressive agents, and their orthopanto-mographies. We calculated patient dental ages with the Demirjian method and determined values for permanent teeth and primary teeth (total number of teeth extracted and filled due to caries, caries). We used the Mann-Whitney U test and X2 test for analysis.

Of 92 included patients, 71% underwent liver transplant and 29% underwent kidney transplant. We observed no differences between dental ages for permanent and primary teeth according to transplant type (P > .05). Dental caries were more common in liver transplant recipients (P = .006). No significant relationship was found between dental age and transplanted organ type (P > .05). In terms of odon-togenic and jaw anomalies, more tubercle deformities were observed in kidney transplant recipients (P = .033). Patients with tooth and jaw anomalies used more mycophenolate mofetil daily (P = .008).

Dental caries were shown to be more prevalent among patients undergoing long-term immunosuppression, irrespective of the specific immunosuppressive agent or its dosage. Furthermore, the dosage of mycophenolate mofetil appeared to influence the occurrence of dental and jaw anomalies. These findings underscore the necessity for enhanced monitoring of transplant recipients in clinical practice.