Liver transplantation: dentistry is an essential part of the team

Liver transplantation has become a commonplace procedure, with more than 3,000 livers being transplanted annually. Patient demand remains much greater than availability of donor organs, resulting in many deaths per year. Due to the nature of hepatic function, unique concern exists regarding susceptibility to infection and rejection during the post-transplant period, placing great importance on vigilant oral health maintenance. Patients are severely immunocompromised and must be well educated and treated pretransplant and for the rest of their post-transplant lives; however, even though patients are on waiting lists for matching donor livers for an adequate amount of time to provide definitive dental treatment, this is not a major priority on the protocols of some transplant centers. This paper addresses these concerns and illustrates a patient who presented shortly post-transplant with severe dental problems requiring immediate definitive treatment. As these patients may present in any office, general dentists should be aware of the unique concerns involving their assessment, education, treatment and maintenance.