Investigating dose homogeneity in radiotherapy of oral cancers in the presence of a dental implant system: an in vitro phantom study

BACKGROUND: Materials with high atomic numbers are part of the composition of dental implant systems. In radiotherapy of oral cavity cancers, an implant can cause dose perturbations that affect target definition, dose calculation, and dose distribution. In consequence, this may result in poor tumor control and higher complications. In this study, we evaluated dose homogeneity when a dental implant replaced a normal tooth. We also aimed to evaluate the concordance of dose calculations with dose measurements. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, 2 sets of planning CT scans of a phantom with a normal tooth and the same phantom with the tooth replaced by a Z1 TBR dental implant system were used. The implant system was composed of a porcelain-fused-to-metal crown and titanium with a zirconium collar. Three radiotherapy plans were designed when the density of the implant material was corrected to match their elements, or when all were set to the density of water, or when using the default density conversion. Gafchromic EBT-3 films at the level of isocenter and crowns were used for measurements. RESULTS: At the level of crowns, upstream and downstream dose calculations were reduced when metal kernels were applied (M-plan). Moreover, relatively measured dose distribution patterns were most similar to M-plan. At this level, relative to the non-implanted phantom, mean doses values were higher with the implant (215.93 vs. 192.25), also, new high-dose areas appeared around a low-dose streak forward to the implant (119% vs. 95%). CONCLUSIONS: Implants can cause a high dose to the oral cavity in radiotherapy because of extra scattered radiation. Knowledge of the implant dimensions and defining their material enhances the accuracy of calculations.