Dental intervention against osteoradionecrosis of the jaws in irradiated patients with head and neck malignancy: a single-arm prospective study.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of dental intervention before and after radiation therapy (RT) for head and neck malignancy on prevention of osteoradionecrosis (ORN) of the jaws. This is a single-arm prospective study according to intervention protocol of prophylactic dental extraction before RT and routine follow-up after RT. The primary endpoint was the occurrence of jawbone exposure during the first 2years after RT. Sixty-seven patients were assessed. Before RT, 144 teeth among 39 patients (58%) were prophylactically extracted. The occurrence of transient jawbone exposure during the first 2years after RT was 7%. Because those jawbone exposures healed with intervention after RT, no jawbone exposure was found at 2years after RT. Dental intervention both before and after RT seemed to be important to prevent ORN development. Further studies in larger cohorts are necessary.