Dental performance in prevention and treatment of oral complications in children and adolescents oncological patients

Children and adolescents are at high risk of developing oral complications during and after chemotherapy and radiotherapy.The aim of this paper is discuss the main oral complications, dental management and the performance of the dentist before cancer treatment for children and adolescents.It is a literature review, which the descriptors “pediatrics”, “oral manifestations” and “antineoplastic protocols” were used to search in the databases of MEDLINE/PubMED and SciELO. The most frequent oral complications in children and adolescents are: mucositis, candidiasis, glandular dysfunction, changes in taste and pain, in addition we can mention changes in craniofacial development. The patient must be instructed about oral hygiene and undergo dental treatment before the proposed treatments, in order to minimize oral complications. The dental protocol should also be extended during and after chemotherapy and radiotherapy in order to promote control of oral health and quality of life. The presence of a dentist in the multidisciplinary team is important to evaluate oral changes during cancer treatment.