The Role of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy in the Treatment of Head and Neck Cancer Patients after Radiotherapy with Dental Implants

The aim of this review is to evaluate the effect of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) on implant survival in patients who underwent prosthetic rehabilitation with dental implants after radiotherapy and suffered from head and neck cancer (HNC). The search terms used in PubMed and Google Scholar scans were “dental implant”, “head and neck cancer”, “hyperbaric oxygen therapy” and “radiotherapy”. The title and summary are screened for the selection of dental implant studies in patients who have had HNC. Clinical human studies, on irradiated dental implant patients, including randomized controlled trials, prospective controlled trials, and retrospective studies were included in the study. In the literature searches, 29 articles were found and 7 articles that meet the inclusion criteria were included. Prosthetic dental implants have gained importance in the treatment of patients with HNC. In cases where conventional prosthetic treatments are insufficient, dental implants increase retention and stability of dentures. In this way, dental implants enable more effective treatments that increase the quality of life. Currently, there is no consensus on the effect of HBOT on osseointegration and implant survival in cancer patients who receive radiotherapy. When the current limited number of studies are evaluated, it can be seen that HBOT may not provide significant clinical benefit in HNC patients treated with radiotherapy. However, it should be taken into consideration that there are not enough studies on this subject in the literature. Therefore, there is a need for randomized, controlled, double-blind trials with homogeneous patient distribution, longer follow-up, supporting HBOT use after RT.

Keywords: Dental implant; Head and neck cancer; Hyperbaric oxygen therapy; Radiotherapy

Abbreviations: ATA: Atmosphere absolute; HNC: Head and neck cancer; HBOT: Hyperbaric oxygen therapy; NM: Not mentioned; ORN: Osteoradionecrosis