Poster 18: Oral Health Care Reduces the Risk of Postoperative Wound Infection in Patients With Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Abstract

Statement of the Problem: Postoperative wound infection (WI) is a main complication after head and neck surgery. WI may lead to significant morbidity, poor cosmetic results, delayed wound healing, prolonged hospitalization, and delay postoperative cancer treatment. Poor oral health is one of the risk factors for WI. Oral health care reduces the number of microorganisms in the oral cavity. To our knowledge, it has not been clarified whether oral health care would lower the risk of postoperative WI in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).