Dental Care Before Cancer Surgery can Prevent Postoperative Complications

Preoperative oral care can help reduce postoperative complications in patients who undergo cancer surgery, reveals a new study published in BJS (British Journal of Surgery).

Of 509,179 patients studied, 16% received preoperative oral care from a dentist.

When a surgeon requested that a dentist provide preoperative oral care to a patient with cancer, the dentist:

‘Dental care before cancer surgery can help prevent postoperative complications.’

• checked the patient's oral condition
• provided professional tooth cleaning
• taught the patient self-cleaning methods for the teeth, and
• provided any treatment needed

In the study, 15,724 patients (3.09%) developed postoperative pneumonia and 1734 (0.34%) died within 30 days of surgery. After adjustments, preoperative oral care by a dentist was linked with a decrease in postoperative pneumonia (3.28% versus 3.76%) and death within 30 days (0.30% versus 0.42%).

"The findings could help improve strategies for the prevention of postoperative complications," the authors wrote.



Source: Eurekalert