Profile of cancer patients requiring dental and oral-maxillofacial prostheses in a Brazilian subpopulation

BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to identify the profile of cancer patients in need of rehabilitation with dental and/or oral-maxillofacial prostheses and evaluate possible reasons for not concluding the rehabilitation process. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A retrospective observational study was conducted at the Dentistry Department of the Mato Grosso Cancer Hospital in the city of Cuiabá, Brazil, involving the analysis of the medical records of patients under care from April 2017 to November 2019. RESULTS: The study population comprised 256 patients who met the inclusion criteria. A total of 30.90% of the patients were older adults, 65.6% were men, 70.3% had brown skin color, 27.3% were retired, 49.2% were married and 52% resided in municipalities in the state of Mato Grosso other than the capital. A total of 67.23% reported smoking and 53.9% reported alcohol consumption. The tumor was located in the head and neck region in 57.4%. The most frequent histological type was epidermoid carcinoma (55.1%). A total of 28.9% of cases were in disease stage IV. Most patients (60.2%) completed prosthetic rehabilitation, with a predominance of total prosthesis. The main reasons for not completing rehabilitation were the patient’s death and weakness. CONCLUSIONS: Patients who started treatment in more advanced stages of cancer had a greater chance of not completing the prosthetic rehabilitation. The non-completion of treatment was directly related to death and the state of weakness. Key words:Cancer, dental prosthesis, epidemiology, maxillofacial prosthesis, oral rehabilitation.