Oral cancer and bucco-maxillo-facial surgery: a systematic review of clinical findings

Introduction: In the context of oral cancer management, it is a multidisciplinary effort, as each patient presents physicians with a unique set of challenges whose management impacts both survival and quality of life. Oral and maxillofacial surgery remains the mainstay of treatment. Oral cancer (OC) has a high incidence and mortality and is among the 10 (ten) most common pathologies in the world, Brazil today represents alarming public health. OC awareness is low, especially in terms of knowledge of signs and symptoms. Also, self-examination is relatively fast, inexpensive, and simple to perform. The diagnostic accuracy of the oral self-examination needs to be established first before advocating it as a potential screening tool for early detection. Objective: the present study aimed to carry out a systematic review of the main clinical findings on the surgical treatment of oral cancer by dentists. Methods: The rules of the Systematic Review-PRISMA Platform. The research was carried out in December 2021 to February 2022 and developed based on Scopus, PubMed, Science Direct, Scielo, and Google Scholar. The quality of the studies was based on the GRADE instrument and the risk of bias was analyzed according to the Cochrane instrument. Results: A total of 243 articles were found. In total, 104 articles were fully evaluated and 25 were included and evaluated in this study. there was a positive impact of CAD/CAM mandibular reconstruction on mastication and swallowing function after surgery for locally advanced oral cancer for the first time. Therefore, neoadjuvant chemotherapy plays a potential role in mandibular preservation in oral cancers with acceptable toxicities and without compromise in survival. The low prevalence of oral self-examination was more common among the elderly, being more common to oral cancer. Thus, educational actions can influence people's self-perception of their oral condition. In this way, the studies showed that to achieve the success of the surgical treatment of oral cancer, it is necessary for the individuals themselves to expand the self-examination care, linked to the evaluation and early diagnosis of dental surgeons. Conclusion: The studies showed that to achieve the success of the surgical treatment of oral cancer, it is necessary that self-perception of oral health, one of the components of quality of life, refers to a subjective experience of the individual about their functional, social and psychological well-being