[Radiation-induced osteomyelitis of the mandible]

Osteoradionecrosis of the mandible following primary or adjuvant radiotherapy of progressive oral and oropharyngeal malignancy is, for the affected patient, a feared and sometimes vitally threatening complication. In the authors' experience, the incidence rate of osteoradionecrosis between 1973 and 1987 was 4.1%, which makes the necessity of the prophylactic efforts described in the present study evident.