Clinical evaluation of postradiation dental extraction

Twenty-one patients who had undergone postradiation dental extraction were evaluated clinically. All patients had received irradiation for primary head and neck malignancies at doses ranging from 8 to 60 Gy (mean, 51.6 Gy). Time to dental extraction after irradiation ranged from 8 to 156 months (mean, 57.9 months). Of the 21 patients (80 teeth extracted, including 33 maxillary teeth and 47 mandibular teeth), one had delayed healing after wisdom tooth extraction due to postextraction irradiation. Thus, osteoradionecrosis after dental extraction did not develop. These results suggest that dental extraction after radiation is not contraindicated. To prevent complications, patients who have received radiation and require extractions should be cared for by oral and maxillofacial surgeons in close association with radiation oncologists. (author)