The Effect Of Radiotherapy On Oral Health

There are many different type of cancers, there are also many different types of treatments. One of the most known types of treatments would be chemotherapy. Chemotherapy can be used for a wide range of different types of cancers and diseases, and each of the different types of cancers or diseases require a different group, and sometimes order, of chemicals to properly treat the cancer or disease. These chemicals include: Alkylating agents, Antimetabolites, Anthracyclines, Topoisomerase inhibitors, mitotic inhibitors, corticosteroids, and more. Each of these drugs previously listed have its own cancer type(s) or disease(s) that it can assist in treating. Some of these cancers include: Leukemia, Lymphoma, Hodgkin disease, multiple

Radiation therapy can be used anywhere in the body to treat any kind of cancer. Depending on what type of radiation therapy, it can have some side effects. The most common ones include fatigue, hair loss near the treated area, and skin darkening in the area exposed to a beam of radiation. ("Radiation Therapy for Cancer,” 1) There are also safety concerns that patients have when they are treated with radiation therapy. Many people that receive radiation therapy treatment, worry about exposing family and love ones to radiation, as well as the side effects. Radiation effects on the normal tissues are divided into acute and chronic effects (Schreiber). Acute effects occur during the course of therapy and during the post therapy period (approximately 2-3 weeks after the completion of a course of irradiation) (Schreiber).

As dental hygienists we are members of the healthcare community. That means that we have an extremely important role when it comes to the health of our patients. When patients present themselves in our treatment room, it is our responsibility to make sure we do not leave anything unexamined. We are professionals in the practice of identifying, preventing, and treating oral diseases. We do this by completing thorough extraoral and intraoral exams and being conscious of what to look for. One particular exam that we do is an oral cancer exam. As dental hygienists we are at the forefront in identifying this disease. In an article written by Nancy Burkhart, a coauthor of General and Oral Pathology for the Dental Hygienist, she states, “It is known that oral cancer is more likely to be detected in an early stage in the dental office than those found at a physician’s office, which tend to be at a later stage.” (Burkhart, 2014) This may be because dental hygienists focus more on the oral tissues than physicians do; or the fact that patients go to a doctor when it is already at advanced stages. It is imperative that we as dental hygienists know the signs and symptoms of oral cancer, as well as the risk factors involved in developing the disease and how it can be prevented. While it is important as a dental hygienist to identify oral diseases, it is more important to educate our patients on how they can avoid any potential abnormalities from becoming severe problems,

Radiation is known to damage the parotid glands and surrounding tissues, resulting in various toxicities which can lead to a functional decline in swallowing. The current study examined the incidence, nature and severity of treatment-related toxicities in patients with PGC undergoing XRT and found a trend of acute toxicities and swallowing difficulties that deteriorated throughout the course of XRT and peaking at the end of the treatment. Whilst this pattern of toxicity presentation and recovery is similar to other HNC groups, the severity of toxicities presenting in this clinical group was much lower, with few patients having any persistent difficulties at 3 months post treatment. The current information can be used to develop models of

Eighteen People a day are diagnosed with oral cancer. ("Facts and Figures"). Roughly 48,250 Americans will be diagnosed this year. As well as, it will cause approximately 9,575 deaths in the next year ("Oral Cancer Facts"). This is a big deal. Oral cancer is a deadly disease. ("Risk Factors") The three main factors that contribute to oral cancer are genetics, environmental factors/lifestyle choices, and chance.

Oral cancer is a devastating disease. Over eight thousand American lives are taken by oral cancer and only a fourth of these patients do not excessively drink alcohol or smoke tobacco, which are the two main causes of oral cancer (The Oral Cancer Foundation). Survival rates for oral cancer could be much higher if the population would take precautionary measures to reduce their chances of being diagnosed with oral cancer. When the use of alcohol and tobacco are decreased, the chances of acquiring oral cancer are also decreased. By visiting the dentist at least once every year, new lesions could be found. Unfortunately, only seven percent of the population, who visits the dentist regularly, receives a thorough oral cancer exam(The Oral

Oral squamous cell carcinomas are rapid in growth and are not due to sunlight exposure. Refusal to eat due to the tumors on the tongue and/or surrounding gums, drooling, bad breath, and swollen lymph nodes, are symptoms. Oral carcinoma’s needs to be diagnosed early. If not, the prognoses is not good and death is eminent.

- The article chosen focuses on proper assessment of oral ulceration in the primary care setting to aide in the early diagnosis of oral cancerous ulcerations. Benign oral ulceration may cause by numerous factors ranging acute ulcerations, like trauma (i.e. biting your mucosa), medications, and various infectious agents like (herpiesveridae) (Paleri, V. et. al., 2010). Chronic oral ulceration can develop with persistent irritation, such as dentures. Chronic infections, and medications can be the causative factor to chronic ulcerations (Paleri, V. et. al., 2010). When it comes to Cancerous oral ulcerations can manifest and

    Cancer is a disease in which cells multiply out of control and gradually build a mass of tissue called a tumor. There has been a large amount of research dedicated to the treatment and cure of cancer. Several types of treatments have been developed. The following are just some of the major examples of cancer therapy: surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, biologic therapy, biorhythms, unconventional treatments, and hyperthermia. Each type of treatment is discussed in detail below.

Oral squamous cell carcinoma is an invasive form of head and neck cancer, accounting for 94% of all oral cancers (Bagan et al., 2010). The common etiological factors associated are tobacco and betel quid chewing, human papilloma viral infections and alcohol consumption (Massano et al., 2006). Diagnostic delays have been reported to be an important factor responsible for progression of oral squamous cancers to advanced stages. The average 5-year survival rate for oral squamous cell carcinoma is 50% (Sciubba, 2002). Such invasive cancer is clinically preceded by a premalignant lesion which is associated with high malignant transformation risk.

I. While we are in class today, 6 people will die from oral cancer. Three out of the four are men between the ages of 25 and 55. Before being diagnosed, these individuals probable ate a good diet and exercised regularly. Most did not use tobacco products and seldom drank alcohol.

Radiation Therapy is the use of high energy radiation to damage cancer cells and prevent them from growing and dividing. More than 70% of cancer patients have undergone radiation therapy treatment (1). While radiation therapy today seems to be a very common medical treatment for cancer, there are still several risks a patient takes when choosing to undergo this treatment. There are obvious physical risks that happen that most people are aware of, however, many people do not think about the psychological damage that can occur as a side effect. Do the benefits outweigh the uncertain success of this treatment? Ultimately, the patient has to consider if the risk is worth the reward.

Cancer can be defined as an uncontrollable division of cells in the body, and untreated cancer can lead to serious illness, tumors and death. Cancer-related to head and neck is the most difficult to treat because it has a direct impact on the central nervous system. Radiotherapy is used to treat head and neck cancer, and the treatment can be combined with chemotherapy. Radiotherapy or radiation therapy uses radiation while chemotherapy is the treatment that uses chemical agents to destroy the cancer cells. Radiotherapy and chemotherapy have been associated with effects like seizures, suppression of cell growth and cognitive impairment (Dietrich et al., 2006). The brain scans of the patients after receiving a few years of treatment show a decline in white matter in the brain. (Bharatha et al., 2012)

Cells are the body’s main entity of life. Cells divide and multiply in a controlled way, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to keep us healthy. When this contained operation gets interrupted or cell DNAs become impaired and continue to build up, or when multiplication ensue when it is needless, tumors form. Tumors can be benign or malignant depending on, if they metastasize to nearby tissue or through the body. Therefore, a determining component to the type of therapy provided are characteristics of the cancerous tumors itself. For example, the type, size, location, closeness to normal tissues which are hypersensitive to radiation, the radiation’s travel distance and patient’s health, age and history.

Radiation Therapy has been a standard treatment for Head and Neck cancers whether used alone or in combination with other treatment methods. Using radiation as a single modality treatment in head and neck cancer patients allowed us to preserve function and form of organs in this region.6 Head and neck cancers have distinctive clinical, pathological, and epidemiological features. Their sensitivity to treatment also distinguishes them from other cancers.4 Radio sensitive cells are classified as cells that have high division rate, high metabolic rate, and cells that are non-specialized. Using ionizing radiation leads to killing of cells. In radiation therapy the most important endpoint is the cell losing reproductive ability and/or