Trismus and oral health conditions during diagnosis of malignant oral neoplasms

Abstract Introduction: Trismus has been considered a late complication of cancer treatment. It can occur prior to treatment, mainly caused by tumor invasion or muscle spasms induced by the presence of the tumor. Objective: In this study, we evaluated the incidence of trismus and its effect on oral health in patients with malignant neoplasms of the oral cavity before performing the cancer treatment. Methods: This review was carried out via interviews, visual clinical inspection and objective measurement of maximal mouth opening in 35 consecutive patients. Trismus was defined as a maximal mouth opening <35 mm. Results: Trismus was observed in 15 patients, with a total incidence of 42%. A high rate of tooth loss was recorded, and trismus association with tooth loss was statistically verified using the Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests, the t-student test and Mann-Whitney non-parametric test. All tests were performed at p < 0.05. Conclusion: Edentulous patients are eight times more likely to have trismus compared to patients that are partially and fully dentate. Trismus was demonstrated to be correlated with tooth loss; however other oral health conditions were not shown to be a modifying factor.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Martins,Cinthia A., Goldenberg,Dov C., Narikawa,Rita, Kowalski,Luiz P.
Format: Digital revista
Language:English
Published: Associação Brasileira de Otorrinolaringologia e Cirurgia Cérvico-Facial. 2020
Online Access:http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1808-86942020000500552
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