Implant-supported oral rehabilitation in oncology patients: a retrospective cohort study

Oral rehabilitation after treatment for head and neck cancer can be challenging. Implant-supported rehabilitation can considerably improve oral health-related quality of life, but there is a dearth of contemporary evidence of reported outcomes and trends in this cohort. In this study we retrospectively investigated the outcomes of 115 patients (376 dental implants) with a mean (range) follow up of 3.91(0.11-12.76) years. We considered survival of the implants, percentage of those used for prosthetic rehabilitation, time from diagnosis to placement and restoration, additional operations involving soft-tissue revision, and the effects of radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and reconstructive flaps on these outcomes. Implant survival was 97%. A total of 32% of patients had radiotherapy with a mean dose of 61 Gy. A total of 94% of cases were restored with all the implants placed. Computed coefficients from a multinomial logistic regression model suggested that a trend towards radiotherapy, implant placement in the graft, and placement in the maxilla had a negative influence on success, but this was not significant (p > 0.05). The placement of implants in a reconstructive flap was strongly associated with the need for soft tissue revision. The approach used (placement during primary cancer resection or after) significantly influenced the time to placement and restoration (p = 0.016). These data suggest a local trend towards earlier placement of implants (during primary cancer resection) resulting in earlier restorative rehabilitation. Outcome data show that the survival of implants is comparable to that in non-oncological cases, and that radiotherapy and location of the implant have less influence on implant survival than previous studies have suggested.