Assessment of mouth opening before and after head and neck radiotherapy in patients with intraoral stents

BACKGROUND: We evaluated the evolution of mouth opening before and after radiotherapy of the head and neck in patients using intraoral stents. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-one patients with head and neck cancer who were indicated for radiotherapy participated in this study. Maximum interincisal opening measurements were performed before and after radiotherapy. Paired analyses of the pre- and post-radiotherapy groups were performed using paired samples t-tests and correlation analyses using Spearman’s correlation test, with p < 0.05 considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Paired analyses of the pre- and post-radiotherapy groups revealed a statistically significant reduction in post-radiotherapy maximum interincisal opening (p < 0.001). However, only four individuals were diagnosed with trismus after radiotherapy. Regarding the correlation tests, no statistically significant differences were observed between the differences in pre- and post-radiotherapy maximum interincisal opening values and the study variables. CONCLUSION: The use of prosthetic devices during head and neck radiotherapy can reduce radiation doses in areas of no interest, thereby preventing the acute and late toxicities associated with cancer therapy.