Restorative and Prosthetic Challenges in Oral Cancer Patients: A Narrative Review

Oral cancer and its treatment present complex restorative and prosthetic challenges that significantly impact patients’ function, aesthetics, and quality of life. This narrative review summarises the key post-treatment complications including trismus, hyposalivation, radiation caries, mucositis, osteoradionecrosis, and altered oral anatomy; and evaluates their implications for dental rehabilitation. Surgical resections, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy collectively lead to anatomical changes, compromised salivary function, and tissue fragility, complicating prosthesis fabrication, retention, and patient adaptation. These complications impact key aspects of prosthetic care such as impression-making, jaw registration, prosthesis stability, retention, and patient adaptation. By outlining the clinical implications of these complications, this review highlights the need for careful assessment and an individualised, multidisciplinary approach when planning restorative and prosthetic treatment for oral cancer patients Key words – Oral cancer, Prosthetic Rehabilitation, Restorative Challenges