General care in bone marrow transplant (BMT) patients includes routine dental evaluations, which must be included in a multi-professional context. The oral cavity is a site that favors infections with high potential for consequent bacteremia and so infectious lesions must be treated or controlled by the dentist. The aim of this review is to discuss key questions in national and international literature with reference to oral inflammatory conditions of BMT patients, both those with predisposition to complications during the transplant and those that emerge during and after myelosuppression therapy. The literature emphasizes advanced periodontal disease, which is a chronic infectious condition that must be avoided or controlled during BMT, particularly because of the presence of S. viridans. The risk factors for oral mucositis, graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and xerostomia have not yet been defined, particularly for oral mucositis and GVHD. Promising alternatives in the treatment of oral mucositis, including cryotherapy, administration of growth factors and laser therapy, are emphatically mentioned. In children, craniofacial and dental alterations, particularly resulting from radiotherapy are relevant. The increased risk of caries is controversial, and among fungal and viral lesions, oral and oropharyngeal infections by Candida and the herpes virus are identified as being of considerable clinical importance.
Oral complications; oral care; oral cavity; bone marrow transplantation