Dental implications and management of head and neck radiotherapy patients

Radiation therapy is a common treatment modality for head and neck cancer. It may be used alone, or in combination with surgery and/or chemotherapy. For effective treatment, tumouricidal doses of radiation must be administered, with their attendant adverse sequelae upon orofacial structures. The severity and extent of these radiation side effects vary according to such factors as dosage, volume, shielding, and type of beam used. Many of these sequelae can be averted or minimized by careful pre-radiation dental screening and post-radiation follow-up and management. This paper briefly covers the side effects of radiotherapy on orofacial tissues, and examines measures for the successful prevention or management of these side effects.