1. ¹Department of Pediatric Dentistry, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA
2. ²Department of Surgery (Division of Dentistry), St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
3. ³Department of Biostatistics, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
4. ⁴Department of Hematology–Oncology, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
5. ⁵Department of Radiological Sciences (Division of Diagnostic Imaging), St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
6. ⁶Department of Radiology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA

Correspondence: Dr SC Kaste, Department of Radiological Sciences, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, 332 N. Lauderdale, Memphis, TN 38105-2794, USA. E-mail: sue.kaste@stjude.org

Received 9 November 2004; Accepted 3 July 2005; Published online 22 August 2005.

Abstract

Our purpose was to describe the types and frequencies of altered dental development in pediatric patients following bone marrow transplantation (BMT). A retrospective review of the medical records and panoramic radiographs of all patients who underwent BMT at St Jude Children's Research Hospital between 1990 and 2000, for whom pre-BMT and post-BMT dental examination and panoramic radiography records were available, is presented. All patients were treated on institutional protocols. We recorded patient demographics and radiographic evidence of microdontia, hypodontia, taurodontia, root stunting, caries, enamel pearls, dental restorations/extractions and pulpal calcification. The 99 patients identified (52 males, 47 females) had a median age of 13.5 years (range, 3.4–25.9 years) at the time of BMT. In all, 73 were Caucasian, 15 were African-American, and 11 were of other races. The frequency of radiographically evident root stunting in permanent teeth was significantly increased after BMT (P<0.001), but there was no significant change in the frequency of other dental abnormalities after BMT. Dental abnormalities are prevalent in survivors of childhood BMT, but only root stunting appeared to progress with BMT.