1 Oral Health Outcomes As Potential Indicators Of
ORAL HEALTH OUTCOMES AS POTENTIAL INDICATORS OF CANCER EXPERIENCE by Mariana Bezamat Coutinho Lucas Doctor of Dental Surgery, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, 2013 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the School of Dental Medicine in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2021 1 Committee Page UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH SCHOOL OF DENTAL MEDICINE This dissertation was presented by Mariana Bezamat Coutinho Lucas It was defended on January 22, 2021 and approved by Dobrawa Napierala, PhD, Department of Oral Biology Juan Taboas, PhD, Department of Oral Biology Adriana Modesto, DDS, MS, PhD, Department of Pediatric Dentistry Thesis Advisor/Dissertation Director: Alexandre R. Vieira, DDS, MS, PhD, Department of Oral Biology ii Copyright © by Mariana Bezamat Coutinho Lucas 2021 iii ORAL HEALTH OUTCOMES AS POTENTIAL INDICATORS OF CANCER EXPERIENCE Mariana Bezamat Coutinho Lucas, DDS, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2021 According to an estimate from the American Cancer Society in 2018, 1,735,350 people were expected to be diagnosed with cancer in the United States, with 609,640 dying from the disease. The late diagnosis of cancer has a negative impact on the health care system due to higher treatment cost and decreased chances of favorable prognosis. Due to the nature of their profession, dentists and their teams are well positioned to identify oral risk markers related to cancer, which increases the potential for early diagnosis and chances of survival. For example, tooth agenesis has been associated with increased risk for ovarian cancer. A greater awareness of oral conditions that are linked to genetic predictors of cancer susceptibility will provide dentists an opportunity to improve patient outcomes by suggesting genetic screenings for prevention.
[Show full text]