Evils of radiotherapy Shruthy R1,*, Suma M S2, Jali Pramod K3, Shrinidhi M S4 1Senior Lecturer, Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, College of Dental Sciences and Hospital, Davanagere 2Senior Lecturer, Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, College of Dental Sciences and Hospital, Davanagere 3Senior Lecturer, Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, College of Dental Sciences and Hospital, Davanagere 4Professor, Department of Periodontics, Sharavathi Dental College and Hospital, TH Road, Alkola, Sagara Road, Shimoga *Corresponding author: Shruthy R, Senior Lecturer Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology Sharavathi Dental College and Hospital TH Road, Alkola, Sagara Road, Shimoga-577204 E mail: drshruthyr@gmail.com
Online published on 18 April, 2014. Abstract Radiotherapy, alone or associated with surgery or chemotherapy, has produced a significant increase in cure rates for many malignancies of the head and neck region. However, high doses of radiation in large areas, including the oral mucosa, skin, maxilla, mandible and salivary glands may result in several undesired reactions that manifest during or after the completion of therapy. This damage is caused by the ionizing radiation in normal tissues located in the radiation field. Mucositis, radiation caries, osteoradionecrosis, soft tissue necrosis, progressive periodontal attachment loss, trismus and xerostomia are some of radiotherapy induced complications, which significantly affects patients ’quality of life. Radiation-induced changes can be divided into two groups, based on the usual time of their occurrence: early or acute side effects that are noted during or immediately after treatment; and late side effects that develop months or years after the end of radiation therapy. The degree, progression and reversibility of these changes are related to the radiation dose, the irradiation field, the degree of vascularity and cellularity of tissues, the age at the time of diagnosis and the healing capacity of the exposed epithelial cells. There are many oral complications related to the radiation therapy and the most prevalent one are discussed here. Top Keywords Radiation Therapy, Mucositis, Xerostomia, Osteoradionecrosis. Top |