Parotid gland sparing resulting in a dose below 20 Gy reduces radiation damage on dental hard tissues, and therefore, the dose may act as a predictor for the damage to be expected.

Background/purpose: To evaluate whether radiation damage to dental hard tissues depends on patient-related factors in addition to irradiation dose on the spared parotid gland. Materials and methods: Seventy curatively irradiated patients with head and neck cancer underwent dental treatment prior to, during, and after radiotherapy. During a follow-up period of 24 months, damages to dental hard tissues were classified. Mean doses (D mean ) during spared parotid gland radiotherapy, patients' oral hygiene practice, and socioeconomic status were determined. Results: No carious lesions were observed in 30 patients (Group A), while sporadic and general carious lesions were noticed in 18 patients (Group B) and 22 patients (Group C), respectively. The D mean of Group A (21.2 AE 11.00 Gy) was significantly lower than that of Group C (33.9 AE 9.9 Gy; P < 0.001). Patients with an intermediate level of schooling qualification showed a higher risk for radiation caries than patients with higher education entrance qualification (P Z 0.018).

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