John Norfleet
Richard Ni
| John Norfleet | Richard Ni |
John Norfleet, Richard Ni
Brian Myung Chang
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine
Introduction
The different stages of oral cancer and varying treatment methods can have life altering effects in day to day function that can trickle down to alter a patient's overall mental health and their perceived quality of life. Some of these effects include but are not limited to: dysphagia, trismus, speech impairment, dental decay, and mucositis. The goal of this literature review is to highlight the impacts of oral cancer and its treatments on patient’s quality of life. It is critical for general dentists to know the various effects oral cancer has on patient’s mouths in order to optimally care for them.
Methods
All english articles related to identified quality of life factors were queried using PubMed and the Cochrane library up to March 2022. The search terms used were “Oral cancer quality of life, measuring quality of life, dysphagia, trismus, speech intelligibility, psychosocial impacts, chemoradiotherapy and mucositis, radiation caries."
Results
The preliminary search returned 6,372 articles, 42 of which were used to identify aspects that impacted quality of life proceeding patients treated for oral cancer. The following factors were identified and focused on: dysphagia, trismus, speech impairment, dental decay, and mucositis.
Conclusion
This literature review compiles the impacts of the major complications and sequelae of oral cancer and its treatments on patients quality of life. These complications include: dysphagia, trismus, speech impairment, dental decay, and mucositis. Many of these sequelae are tremendously difficult to address and correct. The more general dentists know about the impacts of oral cancer on their patients the better they can serve and care for them with the goal of improving their quality of life.