The Development of Dental Caries
Healthy tissues show remarkable differences in sensitivity to radiotherapy. The oral mucosa is very sensitive to radiation (epithelial cells have a rather short cell cycle) and therefore most patients that receive radiotherapy for head and neck tumours will develop mucositis. Damage of the salivary glands, both to the parotid and submandibular glands, is also common . Due to the severely reduced salivary flow, most patients suffer from xerostomia (sensation of a dry mouth) and have problems swallowing. They have an increased risk of oral infections such as candidiasis and the development of dental caries and need support in maintaining an optimal oral hygiene.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the treatment of tumours with cytostatic medication. Cytostatics inhibit cell growth by damaging DNA or preventing the actual cell division. In general, tumour cells grow faster than the normal cells of the tissue where the tumour developed and therefore tumour cells are more sensitive to cytostatics. Cytostatics are especially used for treatment of disseminated neoplasms, such as tumours with metastases and leukaemia.
Unfortunately, like ionising radiation, cytostatics do not limit their action to tumour cells. Normal cells that divide at a high rate, such as the mucosa of the bowel and the oral cavity and stem cells in the bone marrow, are also Unfortunately, like ionising radiation, cytostatics do not limit their action to tumour cells. Normal cells that divide at a high rate, such as the mucosa of the bowel and the oral cavity and stem cells in the bone marrow, are also sensitive to cytostatics. Therefore, potential acute side effects of chemotherapy are nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and oral mucositis . The effects of cytostatics on the bone marrow result in decreased numbers of circulating leucocytes and thrombocytes in the blood. Another potential side effect of treatment with cytostatics is transient hair loss.
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