Case Report
Multidisciplinary Treatment Approach in a Patient with
History of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma
Atacan Yavuz,
1
Ömer Birkan ALralJ,
1
Zeynep Lale ÇalJGkan,
2
Dilek TürkaydJn,
3
Atilla Sertgöz,
2
Bahar Kuru,
1
and BaGak DoLan
1
1
Department of Periodontology, Faculty of Dentistry, Marmara University, Nis ¸antas ¸ı Kampusu, B¨ uy¨ ukc ¸itlik Sok. No. 8,
Nis ¸antas ¸ı-S ¸is ¸li, 34365 Istanbul, Turkey
2
Department of Prosthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Marmara University, Nis ¸antas ¸ı Kampusu, B¨ uy¨ ukc ¸itlik Sok. No. 8,
Nis ¸antas ¸ı-S ¸is ¸li, 34365 Istanbul, Turkey
3
Department of Endodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Marmara University, Nis ¸antas ¸ı Kampusu, B¨ uy¨ ukc ¸itlik Sok. No. 8,
Nis ¸antas ¸ı-S ¸is ¸li, 34365 Istanbul, Turkey
Correspondence should be addressed to Bas ¸ak Do˘ gan; basakdogan@marmara.edu.tr
Received 25 October 2013; Accepted 18 December 2013; Published 9 January 2014
Academic Editors: A. Y. Gamal, J. L´ opez-L´ opez, and M. W. Roberts
Copyright © 2014 Atacan Yavuz et al. his is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License,
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Radiotherapy in NPC patients has side efects on the dentition, which afects quality of life dramatically. his case report presents
multidisciplinary dental treatment approach in a 17-year-old male patient with a history of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC),
which was treated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy. he adolescent patient applied to dental hospital 4 years ater the
radiotherapy with aesthetic and functional problems on dentition afecting psychological, social, and physical aspects of his life.
he dentition of the patient demonstrated the severe destruction as a devastating side efect of radiotherapy. With a successful
multidisciplinary approach, our patient’s aesthetics, function, and self-conidence were obtained. Well-established procedures,
which include preventative care and maintenance, can reduce the duration and expenses of the treatment and help in challenging
the life-long complications of radiotherapy.
1. Introduction
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a malign neoplasm
occurring in the epithelial layer of the nasopharynx. he
irst symptom of the disease in the 60% of the patients is
enlarged cervical lymph nodes which represents metastasis.
Obstruction of the eustachian tube occurs in nearly 50%
of patients, which leads to unilateral serous otitis media
and hearing loss. Less frequent symptoms may be like the
symptoms of temporomandibular dysfunction, which is more
common for the dentist, thus complicating the problem
[1]. Nasopharyngoscopy, computerized tomography and/or
magnetic resonance imaging on suspicious lesions, and histo-
logical examination by biopsy are required for diagnosis [2].
All the major and minor salivary glands of the NPC
patients who were treated with radiotherapy are afected by
the large irradiation doses, thus leading the patients into
severe and persistent xerostomia [3]. Occasionally, the most
anterior portion of the loor of the mouth may stand unaf-
fected [2]. Recovery of salivary output of patients is not
signiicant [3].
Radiotherapy may lead to dental caries, even in the
patients who had not experienced caries in lifetime [4]. he
decrease of saliva secretion and alternation of its quality
are the key factors of the radiation caries. Also dental
tissues are afected by radiation directly, making teeth more
susceptible to decalciication [4]. Other complications are
oral candidiasis consequent to shit in the oral microlora,
transient taste alterations, malnutrition and weight loss, and
restricted movement of mandible as a sequel of ibrosis on
mastication muscles [3, 5].
Osteoradionecrosis is the most devastating consequence
of the radiotherapy. Irradiation damages osteocytes and
microvascular structures; blood vessels thicken and marrow
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
Case Reports in Dentistry
Volume 2014, Article ID 918461, 5 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/918461