Correlation between number of dental amalgam restorations and severity of oral mucositis after head-neck radiotherapy

Background: Head and neck radiotherapy causes side effects such as stomatitis. In vitro studies demonstrated local dose enhancement due to backscatter radiation near metal restorations. The aim of this study was to analyze correlation between number of amalgam restorations with severity of oral mucositis in patients with head and neck radiotherapy. Method and materials: This cross-sectional study was accomplished on 80 patients under head and neck radiotherapy referred to Cancer Institute (Tehran, Iran) in 2014–2015. Severity of mucositis and pain were measured by three examinations according to WHO criteria and visual analogue scale. Descriptive statistics and Spearman's correlation coefficient test used to analyze the data by IBM SPSS statistics V22.0. Results: There was no significant correlation between the number of amalgam restorations and severity of mucositis and pain on second and third examinations. However, severity of mucositis and pain were found to be significantly correlated with radiation dose per session (p = 0.013, rs = 0.276), (p = 0.032, rs = 0.240) and total radiation dose (p < 0.001 rs = 0.393), (p < 0.001, rs = 0.445) on second and third examinations respectively. Conclusion: This study showed that number of dental amalgam restorations have no impact on aggravation of oral mucositis caused by head and neck radiotherapy.