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Background: To assess changes in oral microflora in dental plaque from cancer patients within 7 days of the first
course of chemotherapy, and the relationship of the changes with mucositis.
Material and Methods: Thirty cancer patients, divided into a test group undergoing chemotherapy and a control
group no undergoing chemotherapy, were enrolled in this pilot study. Oral microflora were cultured from
three samples of dental plaque at t0 (before chemotherapy), t1 (1 day after chemotherapy) and t2 (7 days after
chemotherapy). Single and crossed descriptive analyses were used to establish prevalence, and the χ
2
test was used
to establish the statistical significance of the differences observed in distributions (significance level:
P
<0.05).
Results: In most patients (57%), oral microflora consisted mainly of Gram-positive cocci, while the remaining
43% of the bacterial flora also had periodontal-pathogenic species. No
Porphyromonas
gingivalis
appeared in
the test group.
Actinobacillus
was the least frequently found bacterium among periodontal pathogens in the test
group, while
Fusobacterium nucleatum
was the most frequently found. No significant differences were found in
quantitative bacterial changes between t0, t1 and t2 in either the test or control groups, or between the two groups.
According to World Health Organization scores, oral mucositis developed in 10 patients (66.6%) in the test group.
Conclusions: The results of this pilot study indicate that there were no changes in microflora in dental plaque in
cancer patients within 7 days of the first course of chemotherapy. No correlations between oral mucositis and
specific microorganisms were assessed.
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