The risk of dental caries in childhood cancer is not high if the teeth are caries-free at diagnosis.

The aim of this work was to evaluate whether the cancer itself, age, sex, number of days of fever, and septic and fungal episodes affect the salivary samples and to assess the frequency of the development of caries during cancer. The background features for caries challenge were studied by monitoring changes in counts of salivary lactobacilli and candida for up to 1 year in 36 children during anti-cancer therapy (18 leukemias and 18 solid tumors). The first dental examination was performed at the diagnosis of cancer and a reexamination about 3 years later. The results showed that the children with active caries at the diagnosis of cancer had significantly more positive findings of lactobacilli and candida than did those with a sound dentition. The other background features did not affect the results. The follow-up dental examination showed that 86.7% of the children who had a caries-free dentition at the beginning of the survey were still in this state after 3 years. In conclusion, more attention should be paid to prophylaxis and dental treatment for cancer children with caries.