Professional oral health care reduces oral mucositis and febrile neutropenia in patients treated with allogeneic bone marrow transplantation

Little is known about the effects of professional oral health care (POHC) on the outcome of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). We evaluated the effects of POHC given by dentists and dental hygienists on the development of oral mucositis and febrile neutropenia (FN) after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT). We retrospectively studied 140 adult patients who had received allogeneic BMT, with or without POHC, in our hospital consecutively between February 2002 and December 2009. Oral mucositis was evaluated according to the World Health Organization scale. The incidence of oral mucositis was 66.7% (52/78) in the patients who had received POHC, compared to 93.5% (58/62) in the non-POHC group (P < 0.001). The incidence of FN and the maximal level of CRP were also significantly lower in the POHC group. Multivariate analysis revealed that the POHC was significantly associated with the incidence of oral mucositis (odds ratio, 7.58; 95%CI, 2.45-23.34; P < 0.001). We concluded that POHC reduced the incidences of oral mucositis and FN by upgrading the overall oral hygiene during HSCT.