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Post-treatment evaluation of oral health-related quality of life in head and neck cancer patients after dental implant rehabilitation

British Dental Journal (2023)Cite this article

Abstract

Objectives To assess oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) following oral rehabilitation using dental implants in patients treated for head and neck cancer (HNC).

Materials and methods Service evaluation: patients who had received dental implants during their oral rehabilitation were invited to take part (n = 81). In total, 37 patients completed questionnaires and underwent a structured interview regarding OHRQoL after rehabilitation. Analysis was by descriptive statistics for questionnaire and thematic analysis of interview.

Results Rehabilitation types were 17 fixed implant prostheses, 12 removable implant prostheses and 8 combination. Functional problems relating to HNC treatment had a significant effect on OHRQoL and persisted after rehabilitation. Removable implant prostheses had more problems associated than fixed. At interview, patients described: functional and emotional benefits of oral rehabilitation involving implants; ease of keeping implants clean; variations in ability of primary care dentists to maintain rehabilitation; thankfulness to have received treatment; long duration of rehabilitation; and problems encountered while undergoing rehabilitation.

Conclusions HNC treatment results in functional and emotional difficulties, which has a significant impact on OHRQoL. Use of dental implants in fixed or removable oral rehabilitation can result in good OHRQoL as assessed by patients at treatment completion, although some functional difficulties often remain.

Key points

  • Head and neck cancer treatment results in various functional and emotional difficulties for patients, which has an important impact on oral health-related quality of life.

  • Use of dental implants to aid oral rehabilitation in these patients can help overcome some of these difficulties.

  • Patients generally felt this type of oral rehabilitation had a significant positive impact on their oral health-related quality of life, although did report some ongoing difficulties accessing support and maintenance of implant-based prostheses.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the nursing and support staff who assisted with the collection of data, and to the patients who volunteered their time to assist with this service evaluation.

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Funding

Dentsply Sirona, UK provided funding to cover participant travel and additional staffing costs through their Investigator Initiated Study scheme (IIS number: I-AS-19-041). They were not involved in design, data collection and analysis or interpreting the results.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Specialty Registrar, Restorative Dentistry, Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton, UK; Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton, UK

    Sarah J. Garner & Alexander J. Pollard

  2. Specialty Training Registrar, Restorative Dentistry, Croydon University Hospital and Guy´s Hospital, London, UK

    Sapna Patel

  3. Consultant in Restorative Dentistry, Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton, UK; Associate Professor, Restorative Dentistry, Plymouth University Peninsula School of Dentistry, Plymouth, UK

    Matthew P. Jerreat

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  1. Sarah J. Garner
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Contributions

Alexander J. Pollard and Matthew P. Jerreat conceived the idea. Alexander J. Pollard, Sarah J. Garner and Sapna Patel collected the data. Sarah J. Garner analysed the data. Sarah J. Garner led the writing, with Alexander J. Pollard, Sapna Patel and Matthew P. Jerreat providing feedback.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sarah J. Garner.

Ethics declarations

The authors have no conflict of interest to declare. Matthew P. Jerreat is a Key Opinion Leader and Peers Board member for Dentsply Sirona, UK, but did not analyse or interpret data.

This service evaluation was performed within the Department of Restorative Dentistry, Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton, UK. It was prospectively registered with the Surgical Directorate, who granted written ethical approval as part of their governance process and confirmed that formal NHS ethical approval was not required.

All patients gave written informed consent to be involved in this service evaluation. Photographs are reproduced here with full written patient consent.

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Garner, S., Patel, S., Pollard, A. et al. Post-treatment evaluation of oral health-related quality of life in head and neck cancer patients after dental implant rehabilitation. Br Dent J (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-023-5460-2

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