Andreea Codruta Novac, Doina Chioran, Cristina Modiga, Laura Cristina Rusu, Emanuela-Lidia Petrescu, Daniela Maria Pop, Meda Lavinia Negrutiu, Cosmin Sinescu
DOI : 10.62610/RJOR.2026.2.18.17
ABSTRACT
The paper analyzes multidisciplinary oral rehabilitation after oral cancer treatment, with emphasis on the functional, aesthetic, and psychosocial recovery of patients. Oncological treatment — surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, or combinations of these — may produce major anatomical defects involving the maxilla, mandible, tongue, palate, oral mucosa, salivary glands, and facial soft tissues. These changes affect mastication, swallowing, speech, facial aesthetics, oral comfort, and quality of life.
Oral rehabilitation should not be considered a secondary or strictly cosmetic intervention, but an essential component of oncological care. The paper emphasizes that treatment success depends on collaboration among prosthodontists, oral and maxillofacial surgeons, oncologists, speech therapists, swallowing therapists, physiotherapists, dietitians, dental hygienists, and mental health specialists.
The main rehabilitation methods include conventional removable prostheses, maxillary obturators, maxillofacial prostheses, implant overdentures, and fixed or removable implant-supported restorations. Obturators are important after maxillectomy because they restore the separation between the oral and nasal cavities, improving speech, swallowing, and facial support. In mandibular defects, implants can increase prosthesis stability and masticatory efficiency, especially when the altered anatomy does not allow good conventional retention.
Radiotherapy is identified as one of the greatest clinical challenges. It can cause xerostomia, fibrosis, trismus, mucosal fragility, impaired healing, radiation caries, and a risk of osteoradionecrosis. These effects reduce prosthesis tolerance, affect implant survival, and require long-term monitoring, strict hygiene, fluoride therapy, and regular prosthetic adjustments.
The paper also highlights the role of digital technologies, such as CBCT, intraoral scanning, CAD/CAM, surgical guides, and 3D printing. These allow more precise planning, faster prosthesis fabrication, and better integration between surgical and prosthetic teams. An important example is the fabrication of digitally planned immediate obturators after partial maxillectomy, which may reduce postoperative functional disability.
The limitations of the current literature include small sample sizes, heterogeneous studies, short-term follow-up, lack of standardized quality-of-life measures, and difficulties in comparing defect types and treatment methods. Future directions include the use of artificial intelligence, tele-rehabilitation, biomaterials, regenerative medicine, and the development of standardized rehabilitation protocols.
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