Prevention of dental caries by regular overnight application of a low-concentration fluoride gel loaded in a custom tray in patients undergoing radiotherapy for head and neck cancer: A preliminary study

• Main Authors: Sakiko Soutome (Author), Souichi Yanamoto (Author), Madoka Funahara (Author), Yumiko Kawashita (Author), Masako Yoshimatsu (Author), Maho Murata (Author), Toshiyuki Saito (Author), Masahiro Umeda (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications, 2020-01-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 0970-9290; 1998-3603; 10.4103/ijdr.IJDR_138_20
• Keywords: dental caries; fluorine compounds; head and neck neoplasms; sodium fluoride; Dentistry; RK1-715
• Source: Indian Journal of Dental Research, Vol 31, Iss 6, Pp 963-966 (2020)

Background:</bold> Some studies have reported topical application of 1.0%-2.0% fluoride gel in a custom tray for 4-5 minutes every day for the prevention of radiation-related dental caries. However, in Japan, the concentration of fluoride used by patients is limited to less than 0.15%. The efficacy of a low-concentration fluoride gel in a custom tray for the prevention of radiation-related dental caries has not been investigated. <bold>Methods and Material:</bold> In this preliminary study, we enrolled 13 patients with head and neck cancer who underwent radiotherapy. They wore a custom tray containing 0.145% sodium fluoride gel during sleep every night and were examined for newly developed dental caries 1 year later. <bold>Results:</bold> No new dental caries were found in the 13 patients 1 year after radiotherapy, and no adverse events were observed. <bold>Conclusions:</bold> We conclude that low-concentration fluoride gel in a custom tray during sleep could prevent radiation-related dental caries, and we plan to conduct a multi-center phase III randomized controlled trial to examine the efficacy of this method for the prevention of radiation-related dental caries.