About Us

Dental Oncology is the discipline within dentistry that combines General Dentistry, Maxillofacial Prosthetics, Oral Medicine, and Oral Pathology. The Dental Oncologist must play an integral role in all facets of treatment to provide state-of-the-art care for patients who have head and neck cancer.

Osseointegrated Dental Implants have been available since mid 1970s to help restore intra oral as well as extraoral soft and hard tissue defects. Patients who undergo surgery to remove the tumors of the head and neck can be treated with implant retained facial prosthetic restorations which are not only more esthetically pleasing, but enjoy a longer lifespan than their adhesive retained counterparts. Recent advances in microvascular reconstruction using free-fibular osteocutaneous flap have helped in restoring bone continuity with grafted bone. Intra-oral implant-retained dental rehabilitation of the reconstructed bone facilitates restoration of oral function. 

Osseointegrated Dental Implants have been available since mid 1970s to help restore intra oral as well as extraoral soft and hard tissue defects. Patients who undergo surgery to remove the tumors of the head and neck can be treated with implant retained facial prosthetic restorations which are not only more esthetically pleasing, but enjoy a longer lifespan than their adhesive retained counterparts. Recent advances in microvascular reconstruction using free-fibular osteocutaneous flap have helped in restoring bone continuity with grafted bone. Intra-oral implant-retained dental rehabilitation of the reconstructed bone facilitates restoration of oral function. 

3-10% of patients treated with radiation for head and neck cancers will develop Osteoradionecrosis (ORN) of the jaw. ORN of jaw bones may be defined as an irradiated bone that becomes devitalized and exposed through the overlying skin or mucosa with no signs of healing for 3 months, without any evidence of  tumor recurrence. Pre-radiotherapy dental assessment and treatment should be done to prevent development of ORN. Once developed, it has to be treated with proper symptomatic protocol to prevent its further progression.

3Medication-related osteonecrosis of jaw (MRONJ) may be defined as an area of exposed bone in the maxillofacial region that has persisted for more than eight weeks, in a patient with current or previous treatment with antiresorptives or antiangiogenic agents, with no history of radiotherapy or metastatic disease to jaw bones. Such medications are frequently used to treat diseases that cause bone resorption such as osteoporosis, or to treat skeletal events in cancer patients. Hence to reduce the risk of MRONJ, dental screening and adequate treatment are fundamental before initiating administration of these drugs.
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Yes. Initially osteonecrosis of jaws was attributed to the use of bisphosphonate drugs such as zolendronate, ibandronate, alendronate etc. only. However recent research has implicated newer drugs such as denosumab, sunitinib, everolimus etc. in the development of MRONJ. Hence the consensus has shifted to widen the scope of definition and include all events as MRONJ
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