This article shows that intraoral stents seem to be useful in decreasing the radiation dose to healthy structures, especially in bone structures and salivary glands during radiotherapy, and emphasizes the importance of a multidisciplinary team during oncological therapy.

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SUMMARY BACKGROUND Technological advances of the 21st century have provided greater communication, regardless of socioeconomic class and age group. Actions to promote the development of health applications are emerging around the world. OBJECTIVE To provide a perspective on the viability and usability of mobile applications dedicated to radiotherapy patients for remote support to health professionals proposing solutions to encourage Brasil in the development of these digital tools. METHODS Cross-sectional exploratory study by systematic review and literature review. We searched the PubMed, BVS, IBGE, and WHO databases, from 2014 to 2018. RESULTS 6 articles were found with topics related to the use of mobile applications in the health area, two of which were published in Portuguese and four in the English, on oncology, from 2014 to 2018. CONCLUSIONS We did not find an expressive number of works on this subject in Brasil. Mobile applications have the potential to assist in the remote support of radiotherapy patients. The latest studies suggest the need for a regulation of data protection protocols to be deployed.

In Brazil the hiring of medical physics in radiation therapy (RT) departments is defined by regulatory agencies, considering only the number of patients treated. With the rise of new technologies, treatment techniques become more complex, requiring a greater amount of time and staff qualifications. International organizations solved this problem with a method for assessing personnel levels and determining the quantity of professionals required for a specific RT department. In this work, we adapted this strategy to our clinical reality and derived calculations of the time per task multiplied by the expected number of tasks. The task requirements were described in detail and the amounts of time required to perform each task over a one-year period were determined. The sum of task times were related to a suitable full-time equivalence (FTE), considering a team only of medical physicists. We thus determined that our clinic should have 11 FTE personnel, evidencing a need for hiring. The use of a personnel justification grid enables the demonstration of professional staffing insufficiencies in clinics, a condition that hinders the development of RT departments, including the scope of teaching and research.