College of Dentistry, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, 875 Union Avenue, Memphis, TN, 38163, USA.
Faculty of Dentistry, King AbdulAziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Support Care Cancer. 2019 Sep;27(9):3331-3336. doi: 10.1007/s00520-018-4626-y. Epub 2019 Jan 7.
Oral toxicities following radiation therapy (RT) for head and neck (HN) cancer can be profound and are associated with poor health outcomes. The Division of Oral Medicine and Dentistry at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute therefore implemented a dental evaluation program designed for community-based (CB) dentists to evaluate and treat patients scheduled for HN RT. The aim of this retrospective single-center cohort study was to assess the compliance of CB dentists with this pre-RT dental evaluation program.
A retrospective analysis of dental evaluations completed by CB dentists from December 2013 to December 2015 was performed. Descriptive statistics were used to determine compliance.
A total of 186 dental evaluations were received. Compliance with completion of dental treatment was as follows: scaling and prophylaxis: 94.5% (172/182); dental restorations: 78.7% (48/61); endodontic therapy: 76.9% (10/13); and dental extractions: 76.9% (30/39). Compliance of CB dentists with all requested components of the pre-RT evaluation and treatment was 77.4% (144/186). The median distance traveled by patients to the CB dentist and to the hospital was 5.2 miles (range 0.03-66.0) and 46.5 miles (range 0.8-1457; p < 0.01), respectively.
In this study, the majority of patients completed their necessary dental treatment in a timely manner by their CB dentist in collaboration with an oral medicine specialist. Given the high compliance of CB dentists, this program could serve as a model for other cancer centers to optimize oral and dental health prior to RT.
头颈部（HN）癌症放射治疗（RT）后的口腔毒性可能非常严重，并与不良健康结果相关。因此，布莱根妇女医院和达纳法伯癌症研究所的口腔医学和牙科分部实施了一项牙科评估计划，旨在为社区（CB）牙医评估和治疗计划接受 HN RT 的患者。本回顾性单中心队列研究的目的是评估 CB 牙医对该 RT 前牙科评估计划的依从性。
对 2013 年 12 月至 2015 年 12 月期间由 CB 牙医完成的牙科评估进行回顾性分析。使用描述性统计数据确定依从性。
共收到 186 份牙科评估。完成牙科治疗的依从性如下：洁牙和预防：94.5%（172/182）；牙修复：78.7%（48/61）；牙髓治疗：76.9%（10/13）；拔牙：76.9%（30/39）。CB 牙医对 RT 前评估和治疗所有要求部分的依从性为 77.4%（144/186）。患者到 CB 牙医和医院的平均距离分别为 5.2 英里（范围 0.03-66.0）和 46.5 英里（范围 0.8-1457；p<0.01）。
在这项研究中，大多数患者通过他们的 CB 牙医与口腔医学专家的合作，及时完成了他们的必要牙科治疗。鉴于 CB 牙医的高度依从性，该计划可以作为其他癌症中心在 RT 前优化口腔和牙齿健康的模型。
