TY - JOUR
T1 - The association between dental arch length and oral health-related quality of life in head and neck cancer patients post-radiotherapy
AU - Abed, Hassan
AU - Reilly, Damien
AU - Burke, Mary
AU - Sharka, Rayan
AU - Daly, Blanaid
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank the Deanship of Scientific Research at Umm Al‐Qura University for supporting this work by Grant Code: (22UQU4350291DSR05).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Special Care Dentistry Association and Wiley Periodicals LLC.
PY - 2022/10/27
Y1 - 2022/10/27
N2 - Aims: To assess the association between length of dental arch and oral health-related quality of life in head and neck cancer patients post-radiotherapy. Methods: Thirty head and neck cancer participants reported their oral health-related quality of life using the oral health impact profile-14 instrument and their global self-rating of general and oral health. All patients had received chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The length of dental arch was assessed in three tooth relational categories: canine-to-canine, shortened (premolars to premolars), and long (molars to molars) dental arches. Inclusion of participants for any of the three categories required verification of opposing teeth relationship with Shim Stock paper. Results: Out of 30 head and neck cancer patients, eight (27%) had a canine-to-canine dental arch, 14 (46%) had a shortened dental arch, and eight (27%) had a long dental arch. The median oral health impact profile-14 scores for participants respectively with the canine-to-canine dental arch was six (IQR = 9.25), seven (IQR = 8) for participants with shortened dental arch, and 11 (IQR = 12.5) for participants with long dental arch. There were no significant differences in oral health impact profile-14 scores between the three-tooth relational groups (Kruskal-Wallis H = 0.769, df = 2, P-value =.681). Similarly, there were no significant differences between three-tooth relational groups on the self rating of general (Chi-squared = 1.714, df = 2, P-value =.424) and oral health (Chi-squared = 1.393, df = 2, P-value =.498). Conclusion: Within the limitations of this study, no association was found between the length of dental arch and oral health-related quality of life in head and neck cancer patients post-radiotherapy. Other factors such as dry mouth, oral mucositis, loss of taste, and trismus should be considered as contributory factors to reduced oral health-related quality of life in head and neck cancer patients post-radiotherapy, particularly in relation to eating difficulties.
AB - Aims: To assess the association between length of dental arch and oral health-related quality of life in head and neck cancer patients post-radiotherapy. Methods: Thirty head and neck cancer participants reported their oral health-related quality of life using the oral health impact profile-14 instrument and their global self-rating of general and oral health. All patients had received chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The length of dental arch was assessed in three tooth relational categories: canine-to-canine, shortened (premolars to premolars), and long (molars to molars) dental arches. Inclusion of participants for any of the three categories required verification of opposing teeth relationship with Shim Stock paper. Results: Out of 30 head and neck cancer patients, eight (27%) had a canine-to-canine dental arch, 14 (46%) had a shortened dental arch, and eight (27%) had a long dental arch. The median oral health impact profile-14 scores for participants respectively with the canine-to-canine dental arch was six (IQR = 9.25), seven (IQR = 8) for participants with shortened dental arch, and 11 (IQR = 12.5) for participants with long dental arch. There were no significant differences in oral health impact profile-14 scores between the three-tooth relational groups (Kruskal-Wallis H = 0.769, df = 2, P-value =.681). Similarly, there were no significant differences between three-tooth relational groups on the self rating of general (Chi-squared = 1.714, df = 2, P-value =.424) and oral health (Chi-squared = 1.393, df = 2, P-value =.498). Conclusion: Within the limitations of this study, no association was found between the length of dental arch and oral health-related quality of life in head and neck cancer patients post-radiotherapy. Other factors such as dry mouth, oral mucositis, loss of taste, and trismus should be considered as contributory factors to reduced oral health-related quality of life in head and neck cancer patients post-radiotherapy, particularly in relation to eating difficulties.
KW - Difficulty eating
KW - RADIOTHERAPY
KW - Quality of Life
KW - Osteoradionecrosis
KW - Missing teeth
KW - head and neck neoplasm
KW - dry mouth
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85133914702&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - DOI: 10.1111/scd.12755
DO - DOI: 10.1111/scd.12755
M3 - Letter
SN - 0275-1879
SP - 1
EP - 8
JO - SPECIAL CARE IN DENTISTRY
JF - SPECIAL CARE IN DENTISTRY
ER -
