The present article reviews, in detail, the current knowledge of the oral and dental aspects of chronic renal failure (CRF). Worldwide, increasing numbers of persons have CRF; thus, oral health care staffs are increasingly likely to provide care for patients with such disease. Chronic renal failure can give rise to a wide spectrum of oral manifestations, affecting the hard or soft tissues of the mouth. The majority of affected individuals have disease that does not complicate oral health care; nevertheless, the dental management of such individuals does require that the clinician understand the multiple systems that can be affected. The clinician should also consider the adverse side-effects of drug therapy and appropriate prescribing, in view of compromised renal clearance.