The aim of this study is to present a literature review on the effects of the ionizing radiation from radiotherapy treatment on dental tissues.
Among the effects of increasing global life expectancy and longevity of the teeth in the oral cavity, increasing rates of neoplastic diseases have been observed. One of the important treatment modalities for head and neck neoplastic diseases is radiotherapy, which uses ionizing radiation as the main mechanism of action. Therefore, it is essential for dentists to be aware of the changes in oral and dental tissues caused by ionizing radiation, and to develop treatment and prevention strategies.
In general, there is still controversy about the effects of ionizing radiation on dental structures. However, qualitative and quantitative changes in saliva and oral microbiota, presence of oral mucositis and radiation-related caries are expected, as they represent the well-known side effects of treatment with ionizing radiation. Points that still remain unclear are the effects of radiotherapy on enamel and dentin, and on their mechanisms of bonding to contemporary adhesive materials.
Ionizing radiation has shown important interaction with organic tissues, since more deleterious effects have been shown on the oral mucosa, salivary glands and dentin, than on enamel.
With the increasing number of patients with cancer seeking dental treatment before and after head and neck radiotherapy, it is important for dentists to be aware of the effects of ionizing radiation on the oral cavity.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 1. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 02 October 2015.
All research outputs
#27,730,492
of 34,365,356 outputs
Outputs from Journal of Contemporary Dental Practice
#276
of 566 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#311,533
of 409,711 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Journal of Contemporary Dental Practice
#14
of 40 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 34,365,356 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 16th percentile – i.e., 16% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 566 research outputs from this source. They receive a mean Attention Score of 3.3. This one is in the 48th percentile – i.e., 48% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 40 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 60% of its contemporaries.
