About 75% of all patients undergoing bone marrow transplant develop symptomatic mucositis (Bellm et al., 1999). Chemotherapy produces mucositis in an estimated 40% of patients, while radiation therapy for tumors of the head and neck affects approximately 80% of patients. Symptoms can develop two to 10 days after the start of therapy and can last two to three weeks or more. Mucositis appears to be inversely proportional to the white blood cell count and platelet count (Seto et al., 1985).

Other oral complications that can arise during high-dose chemotherapy and radiation include:

• Difficulty swallowing (dysphagia);
• Aberrant or altered taste (dysgeusia);
• Bad breath (halitosis);
• Dry mouth (xerostomia);
• Candidiasis; and
• Bacterial or deep fungal infections that secondarily infect mucositis ulcerations.
  

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