Department of Dentistry

Takao Ueno, Staff Wakako Yatsuoka, Takeo Kanayama, Akiko Mori, Hiroki Hayano, Satomo Nabatame, Chie Asano, Yuko Terade, Miki Fukuda, Ryoko Onuki, Miho Komuro

Introduction

Oral complications are common in patients receiving chemotherapy or undergoing radiation therapy of the head and neck.

Oral complications during cancer treatment are directly linked to ingestion problems, and may even serve as a source of various infections such as aspiration pneumonia, thereby exacerbating systemic conditions, and sometimes preventing the completion of cancer treatment with negative effects on treatment prognoses.The oral health status of patients with cancer is associated with the incidence rate and the degree of severity of oral complications. Effective oral hygiene management before initiating cancer treatment will contribute to the reduction of oral complications such as mouth sores, oral mucositis, or dental infections, and provide important support to facilitate smooth cancer treatment.

The Team and What We Do

To prevent or reduce oral complications, we check for complications during cancer treatment in the oral conditions of the patients, identify the patients at risk and start preventive measures before cancer therapy begins.

 Our routine activities for cancer patients are:

1) Management of oral complications of high-dose chemotherapy and/or stem cell transplant before treatment begins

2) Prevention and treatment of oral complications during chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy

3) Perioperative dental management for the prevention of postoperative pneumonia with oral, pharynx and esophageal surgery

4) Making prostheses for restoration of postoperative facial defects

5) Prevention and treatment of medication-associated osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ)

6) Cooperation between medical departments and dentistry to find solutions to dental problems of cancer patients.

• Total number of patients: 16,300
• Total number of new patients: 2,423

Education

Creating a new system to strengthen collaboration with nurses - an emphasis on preventive dental intervention and carrying out screening of oral cavity problems.

Future prospects

Creating a new system to strengthen collaboration with nurses - an emphasis on preventive dental intervention and carrying out screening of oral cavity problems.

Contributing to medicine- and dentistry-related collaboration in cancer care hospitals in the region.