Review Article
Oral Rehabilitation Following Head and Neck Cancer Treatment – Review of literature
Falcao B1*, Januzzi E2 and Santos F31Post Graduate Courses of Implantology at Ciodonto Faculty, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
2Post-Graduation Courses in Orafacial Pain/TMJ, Implantology at Ciodonto Faculty, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
3Clinical Director of Cleclio Prosthodontics Belo Horizonte, Brazil
- *Corresponding Author:
- Falco B
Assistant in the Post Graduate Courses of
Implantology at Ciodonto Faculty
Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Tel: 13526430579
E-mail: bibianafalcao@gmail.com
Received date: December 22, 2014; Accepted date: February 11, 2015; Published date: February 28, 2015
Citation: Falcao B, Januzzi E, Santos F (2015) Oral Rehabilitation Following Head and Neck Cancer Treatment – Review of literature. J Palliat Care Med 5:208. doi: 10.4172/2165-7386.1000208
Copyright: © 2015 Falco B, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
The oral rehabilitation in head and neck cancer patients is a challenge for the physician in charge of the case because a variety of functions can be affected, such as speech, deglutition, management of oral secretions and mastication. Considering the patient will be forever change after surgery, the main goal of oral rehabilitation is to restore the patient’s oral functions following surgery. The side effects of the various treatments that head and neck cancer patients under go are enormous, including xerostomia, mucositis, dysgeusia, dental hypersensitivity, fungal infections, ulceration, gingival bleeding, trismus, pain, reduced salivary flow and inability to use removable prosthesis. All of these side effects must be accounted throughout the process of oral rehabilitation because all of them will have an influence in the success or failure of the rehabilitation of the patient. The strategy and techniques for the rehabilitation of head and neck cancer patients are directly related to the type of cancer, the extent, invasive vs. non-invasive, lymph nodes and metastasis involved, type of surgery and radiation modalities used.
