A new study published in the October issue of the Journal of the American Dental Association highlights the critical role of dental exams in the treatment of head and neck cancer. Integrating dental professionals into the oncology team ensures timely, expert dental care, thereby optimizing the patient’s overall outcome.
The National Cancer Institute recommends that cancer patients include a dentist in their care team and schedule dental visits at least four weeks before starting cancer treatment, whenever possible. This ensures that all necessary dental procedures are completed in a timely manner, thereby enhancing cancer treatment.
The study’s cover story, “A Comparative Analysis of Dental Clearance Programs for Patients Awaiting Head and Neck Radiation Therapy,” explores three approaches to obtaining dental clearance: an in-house dental program at a cancer center, an external dental clinic, and a hybrid model in which an external evaluation is reviewed by an in-house dental specialist.
The average time interval between the radiology consultation and dental clearance was 28.6 days for the in-house program, 22.6 days for the external clinic, and 21.4 days for the hybrid model.
The authors note: “This hybrid approach, combining external assessment with internal dental examination, minimized clearance times despite the additional travel time, highlighting its effectiveness.
A timely dental examination before radiation therapy is crucial for timely initiation of cancer treatment and minimizing secondary oral complications.”
Other articles in the October issue of JADA explore topics such as gingival augmentation terminology, intraoral scanners compared to desktop scanners, and the therapeutic potential of cannabidiol.
