Assessment and co-relation of Orofacial manifestations with existing malignant conditions in children

Introduction: Indian Cancer Register reports the proportion of childhood cancers relative to all cancers as 0.8-5.8% in boys and 0.5-3.4% in girls. It’s imperative that dentists be familiar with the medical history and oral manifestations of Pediatric Malignancies in order to detect, diagnose and plan for effective intervention. Objective: To enumerate the types of Pediatric Malignancies as seen at Regional Cancer Center, Bengaluru, and to correlate it with their dental findings. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional hospital- based study, involving in and outpatients aged 15 yrs. and below. Case history was recorded and retrospective analysis of medical files was undertaken. Relevant data was tabulated and subjected to statistical analysis. Result: Leukemia’s accounted for the most common type of malignancy reported. Significant reduction in constitutional symptoms was seen after chemotherapy, but oral complications like mucositis and ulceration were present. Dmft was significantly higher in cases group compared to control group. Conclusion: History taking, inspection and palpation should be mandatory in a dental setup. Also, once therapy is initiated appropriate treatment modalities should be employed to reduce the oral complications, so as to reduce discomfort and not hamper the progress of treatment.