Abstract
The contribution of a denture-type spacer, fabricated by a denture duplicationtechnique, in reducing the incidence of radiation bone complication (osteonecrosis) was examined retrospectively. Fifty-five edentulous patients with previously untreated T1 and T2 carcinoma of the oral tongue were treated mainly by interstitial brachytherapy between April, 1978 and November, 1992. A spacer was used in 12 patients who were treated after 1991.Osteonecrosis was found in 3 patients treated without a spacer but in no patient treated with thespacer. However, there was no significant relationship between the incidence of osteonecrosis and the use of the spacer. The failure was attributed to specific procedural alterations, i.e., reduction of the frequency of use of external irradiation and thereby of total dose, during theperiod in which spacers were applied. Despite the failure to observe any significant contribution of the denture-type spacer to reducion of the incidence of osteonecrosis in this study, a reductionof the dose to the mandible can be expected when a spacer is used. We have therefore adoptedthis type of spacer as a part of our interstitial brachytherapy procedure.
