Oral health after breast cancer treatment in postmenopausal women

OBJECTIVE: Oral health can affect a patient's general health and quality of life. Given the increase in breast cancer survival rates, investigations of factors influencing the quality of life of survivors have gained importance. Therefore, the objective of our study was to characterize oral health in postmenopausal breast cancer survivors. METHODS: We conducted a matched case-control study. Forty-eight women who survived breast cancer (age 62.1±9.1 years) and 48 healthy controls (age 61.8±8.6 years) were included. For each case and control, a complete oral evaluation chart was completed. RESULTS: The prevalence of chronic periodontal disease was 98% in breast cancer survivors and 87% in controls. The breast cancer survivors had a median of 16 remaining teeth, whereas controls had a median of 22 remaining teeth (p = 0.03). The percentage of sites with gingival bleeding was 16.05% (0-100%) in breast cancer survivors and 0% (0-72%) in controls (p = 0.04). CONCLUSION: Chronic periodontal disease and tooth loss were highly prevalent in postmenopausal breast cancer survivors. To improve survivors' quality of life, a preventive oral health evaluation should be available prior to cancer treatment.