Oral care of chemotherapy patients.

: About 65 to 75% of all cancer patients will receive antineoplastic chemotherapy during some part of the course of their disease. With about 700,000 cases of cancer in the United States, it is more likely that dentists will be called on to treat an oral complication of chemotherapy than an oral cancer, which represents only 5% of all cases of cancer. The diagnosis and treatment of stomatitis, oral infections, and hemorrhage are discussed here, and a program of oral evaluation and care before, during, and after chemotherapy is presented.