A Digitally Generated 3D Dental Model for Assessment of Radiotherapy Doses to the Dentition in Oropharyngeal Cancer Patients for Pre-IMRT Dental Treatment Planning

Osteoradionecrosis (ORN) is a devastating complication of head and neck (H&N) radiotherapy (RT), which has no guaranteed cure. The focus is therefore based on prevention, and there is international agreement that patients undergoing H&N RT should have a dental assessment to achieve optimum oral health. To achieve this goal, often dental extraction are required of poor prognosis teeth. In addition, the dental oncologist may recommend the extraction of healthy or unrestored teeth due to their position within the radiotherapy pathway, deeming them vulnerable to developing ORN in the future if needing extraction.
Source: Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery - Category: ENT & OMF Authors: Source Type: research