Objectives: Hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) recipients in our hospital undergo pre-transplant examination and treatment of dental infectious foci at the Department of Dental and Oral Surgery. We introduced a team approach to oral care in October 2005 to prevent post-transplant oral mucositis. Dentists and dental hygienists collaborate with physicians and nurses in providing pre-transplant outpatient oral care and post-transplant in-hospital oral care. This study was designed to compare clinical indices of oral mucositis in HCT recipients with and without oral care. Methods: The study included 10 HCT recipients with oral care and 10 HCT recipients without oral care. Data on seven clinical indices were collected from their past medical records: 1) oral mucosal status, 2) oral mucosal pain, 3) maximum doses of narcotic analgesics used, 4) duration of narcotic analgesic use, 5) duration of fever, 6) duration of total parenteral nutrition and 7) duration of inability to eat. Each index was given a severity score ranging from 1 to 5. Results: There were highly statistically significant differences in oral mucosal pain and duration of inability to eat between the groups (P<0.01). Significant differences were also observed in oral mucosal status, duration of narcotic analgesic use and duration of fever (P<0.05). Conclusions: Patient general health status was greatly improved with the oral care provided by dental professionals in close collaboration with physicians and nurses based on a carefully planned regimen tailored to oral and general conditions of each patient. Encouraged by these results, we want to reinforce this multidisciplinary approach by combining expertise in different disciplines in order to further enhance patient QOL.

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