Dental management of a patient with head and neck cancer

ABSTRACT

A cases of dental caries after radiation therapy of the oral regions for treatment of head and neck cancer is presented. Little attention is being paid to the dental tissues of the head and neck cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy. It is essential that dentists become more actively involved in the treatment of patients receiving irradiation and hence reduce the severity and number of complications such as rampant tooth caries and bone necrosis. Conservative procedures such as gentle scaling and polishing, filling cavities, restoring teeth with crowns and X-ray examinations are well tolerated by patients who have received irradiation. The patients can often wear prosthesis after therapy, proving the tissues have well healed, the prosthesis carefully constructed and patient followed up regularly