MICRODONTIA ASSOCIATED WITH THE USE OF RADIOTHERAPY AND CHEMOTHERAPY OF A NON-HODGKIN LYMPHOMA: REPORT OF TWO CASES

One of the childhood malignancies can be defined as non-hodgkin lymphomas. these are known as the third most common malignancies in children and adolescents. burkitt's lymphoma is a poorly differentiated rare and aggressive type of non- hodgkin's lymphoma. clinically, this disease occurs mostly in children. the incidence peaks between ages 3-8 years. it is well known that using chemotherapy and radiotherapy procedures could improve the survival rate of these malignant diseases. however, treatments may cause deleterious effects. dentofacial abnormalities are known as the most common longterm side effects after the usage of chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy procedures in growing patients. these disturbances can be seen in different ways such as arrested root development, disturbances in enamel formation, discolorations, microdontia, anodontia, altered tooth eruption and mandibulary/maxillary hypoplasia. mainly, several factors such as age, treatment time, radiation dose/ duration time of chemotherapy may effect the outcomes of these side effects. in such studies, dental disturbances have been shown in children who were treated before the ages of 5-6 years. this article reports the long-term alterations on dental development in two patients who had been treated with antineoplastic therapy at the age of 3-6 years. chemotherapy and radiotherapy procedures were used together. microdontia and arrested root development were detected in premolar teeth for both patients at follow up periods. these case reports indicated that children who had been exposed to the chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy procedures might have an increased risk of having developmental dental disturbances and should be carefully followed up during the developing dentition.