C. Nicholls et V. Ilankovan, AN AUDIT OF ORAL AND DENTAL-HEALTH REGIMENS PRACTICED IN THE MANAGEMENT OF OROPHARYNGEAL CANCER, British journal of oral & maxillofacial surgery, 36(1), 1998, pp. 63-66
The purpose of the present study was to find out what preventive care
was offered to patients after radiotherapy, particularly if they were
dentate. As the mean age of the population increases and the number of
people who retain at least some of their teeth into old age also rise
s, it is likely that more and more people with a diagnosis of oral can
cer mill be dentate, The incidence of oropharyngeal cancer has also st
arted to increase recently and is affecting more young and dentate peo
ple.(1) It is of paramount Importance to provide comprehensive managem
ent for these patients, not only to remove the disease and reconstruct
the defect, but also to provide the patient with the opportunity of e
xperiencing a good quality of life by having a comfortable mouth after
treatment. A questionnaire was sent to all senior fellows of the Brit
ish Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (BAOMS) and the res
ults analyzed. The results of this survey show that improvements could
be made if some simple preventive measures were instigated in the ear
ly stages of treatment.