Dental implant treatment in a severely compromised (irradiated) patient.

When faced with a patient with relative medical or psychological contra-indications, the practitioner may be tempted to withhold dental implant treatment because of the risks. Yet, for some highly motivated but compromised patients, the potential benefits of implant treatment can be an overriding consideration. In the case presented here, a 56-year-old patient who had undergone two series of radiation therapy and surgery for recurring cancer of the tongue was treated first with a subperiosteal, and, when the subperiosteal was removed after six years, the patient was treated with endosseous implants. This treatment significantly improved the patient's life without further negative effect on her medical condition.