In this prospective study, we determined the effects of the time interval between irradiation and implant therapy, implant location, bone-resection surgery, and irradiation dose on implant survival. We analyzed the survival of 446 implants inserted after radiotherapy over a period of up to 14 years in 130 consecutive patients treated for oral cancer. The 10-year overall Kaplan-Meier implant survival percentage is 78%. The difference in survival percentages of implants inserted < 1 year and >/= 1 year after irradiation (76% and 81%, respectively) is not significant. We concluded that implant survival is significantly influenced by the location (maxilla or mandible, 59% and 85%, respectively; p = 0.001), by the incidence of bone-resection surgery in the jaw where the implant was installed (p = 0.04), and by the irradiation dose at the implant site (< 50 Gray or >/= 50 Gray, p = 0.05).

In this survey, 64% of the long-term survivors, after treatment by conventional two-dimensional radiation therapy for a malignancy in the head and neck region, still experienced a moderate to severe degree of permanent xerostomia. A simplified instrument to evaluate xerostomia subjectively can consist of the VAS score and three graded questions.

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