The CT showed....

plh4gail

Here is what the CT said. And what our Peds Dr said. And what my friends at work said. .....CT report: "Small tooth abcess involving maxilary premolar. Small area of cortical bone destruction mandible adjacent to a premolar. Recommend dental x-rays of both of these regions. No soft tissue abcess seen."..(but he did not mention the round thing in her cheek that we went in for)...(the maxilla is the upper jaw and the mandible is the lower jaw.) ....What the Dr said "That it could be a tooth causing the problem to spread to the bone, or that it could be a cancer in the bone causing a problem with the tooth, or that there could be two separate things going on". She is having me follow up with our Dentist for a consult on this CT, and with an ENT that works with the Childrens Hospital an hour an a half away, and also with the Childrens Hospital oncology department......Tonight I went to talk with my friends in the radiology department at the hospital I worked at. They looked at the CT image and said they think either what the radiologist saw was either a very small new bone problem, or even the root of a tooth that can resemble "something" on CT when there is really nothing significant to report. They also said he often reports on the side of caution.And I know him to do this, but forgot since it was my child.

Reading that report again and again and thinking about Kacies baby teeth/adult teeth rivalry (her baby teeth take forever to fall out and the adult teeth to grow in) and knowing what she had done as far as her teeth are concerned, I think that darn Radiologist focused only on that area, completely left the lump unmentioned and it led our (mine and the Dr) imagination to places it should never have gone.....Now back to the beginning....what the heck is this lump in my little girs face? Probably a benign little marble-size cyst.

Ugh. I'm annoyed with this whole CT thing. I've been looking up things...jaw, baby teeth, etc. and this radiologist totally focused on things her dentist is adressing and not a mention of the round transluscent image in her cheek. I'm positive there aint a thing wrong with this kids jaw bone. And she is her normal happy bubbly little self.

I'm taking control of this situation now. (The ER Charge Nurse is coming out in me)

Sorry for the worry...but thank you so very much for being here when I was scared

Love you all, Gail

tommycat

Thanks for the update Gail.
Thanks for the update Gail. I've been thinking about you.
Would you like it if I copied this email and sent it to my childrens' dentist, who is also one of our best friends, to get his thoughts on what your Dentist/Dr. said?
Your Friend in California~

plh4gail

tommycat said:

Thanks for the update Gail.
Thanks for the update Gail. I've been thinking about you.
Would you like it if I copied this email and sent it to my childrens' dentist, who is also one of our best friends, to get his thoughts on what your Dentist/Dr. said?
Your Friend in California~

I would love that! Thanks so
I would love that! Thanks so much

Gail

I'm in Cali also

keystone

Maxillary Premolar? How old
Maxillary Premolar? How old is your little one? Maxillary premolars erupt around age 10-11. Shes much younger than that is she not? The adult teeth appear on x-rays quite early in a "bud" form, it looks like the crown only of the tooth forming with a sac around it (very often it looks like a cyst). Certainly a dental x-ray would (I think) be more accurate because of the angle its taken. I just know that physcians in general are NOT dental literate so I'm glad your taking her to a dentist. Has the lump changed? Does it still hurt? If so does it hurt worse when eating something sour? I just can't help to think maybe a salivary duct that has become blocked or has some calcification. I can't believe he didn't address that. Stephanie

I'm adding to my earlier comment after seeing the age of your daughter in another post. Do check all of this out but I really think they are just not to familiar with tooth development. At Kacies age there is SO much going on when you look at an x-ray/CT there are teeth growing everywhere at many different stages of development. These sacs that I spoke about earlier can look like infection or bone abnormalities depending on where a tooth is in its development. You see a sac before you see any tooth developing so this could even be where her wisdom tooth on the bottom is just getting started?? Please keep us posted. I have, through the years, seen so many medical doctors scare people to death only because they did not know what they are looking at! I really wish they would just send dental issues straight to a dentist!

plh4gail

keystone said:

Maxillary Premolar? How old
Maxillary Premolar? How old is your little one? Maxillary premolars erupt around age 10-11. Shes much younger than that is she not? The adult teeth appear on x-rays quite early in a "bud" form, it looks like the crown only of the tooth forming with a sac around it (very often it looks like a cyst). Certainly a dental x-ray would (I think) be more accurate because of the angle its taken. I just know that physcians in general are NOT dental literate so I'm glad your taking her to a dentist. Has the lump changed? Does it still hurt? If so does it hurt worse when eating something sour? I just can't help to think maybe a salivary duct that has become blocked or has some calcification. I can't believe he didn't address that. Stephanie

I'm adding to my earlier comment after seeing the age of your daughter in another post. Do check all of this out but I really think they are just not to familiar with tooth development. At Kacies age there is SO much going on when you look at an x-ray/CT there are teeth growing everywhere at many different stages of development. These sacs that I spoke about earlier can look like infection or bone abnormalities depending on where a tooth is in its development. You see a sac before you see any tooth developing so this could even be where her wisdom tooth on the bottom is just getting started?? Please keep us posted. I have, through the years, seen so many medical doctors scare people to death only because they did not know what they are looking at! I really wish they would just send dental issues straight to a dentist!

Stephanie
She is 10. And 3 years ago she had a tooth pulled on the left lower side. They put a spacer there to leave room and the tooth is just now peeking through. I'm thinking it makes sense the bone destruction is from the tooth pulled. Why didn't the DR tell me this in the first place. My mind went where she led it. At first.

Kacie got her first tooth a week before her first birthday. And it has always seemed that when a baby tooth gets loose, it takes a long time to fall out. And an even longer time for her adult teeth to come in. When she lost her front teeth, it was close to a year before the adult teeth broke through! Two years ago, she had 5 teeth out at the same time. I have had her at the Dentist 3 times this past year because she was intermittantly complaining of some discomfort, not really the excruciating toothache pain. They took Xrays and said no problems. Only the adult teeth up against the baby teeth trying to come out. It even caused a bump to swell up on her gum, inflammed that would go back down with only mild pain. Those teeth are still all in the same place.

The lump in her cheek is the same. The only discomfort was for 3-4 days in the beginning, she says. So, about October 1st. No pain now, never she says.

I know this topic strayed to dental, but sometimes diversions happen.

Thanks, Gail

tommycat

plh4gail said:

I would love that! Thanks so
I would love that! Thanks so much

Gail

I'm in Cali also

Hi Gail, this is what I
Hi Gail, this is what I wrote and then the response
*****************
A friend of mine on the cancer survivor's network is worried about a lump in her daughter's cheek. Since the mom has cancer, she's worried that her young daughter may get it too. Can I ask you a favor? Would you ask K to look at what she wrote, below, and give his input? I'd really like to help her, and K is an expert.
Love,
Me
*****************
From the Dentist
*****************
how old is child, has she(child) had history of cancer
99.9% its a tooth abcess(fistula). If its a baby tooth she needs extraction or something called pupotomy(baby tooth rootcanal). I would just take her to dentist before any other tests, or oncologist. As great as radiologist are, they do not look at teeth that much so again see dentist and not worry.
k

jjaj133

plh4gail said:

Stephanie
She is 10. And 3 years ago she had a tooth pulled on the left lower side. They put a spacer there to leave room and the tooth is just now peeking through. I'm thinking it makes sense the bone destruction is from the tooth pulled. Why didn't the DR tell me this in the first place. My mind went where she led it. At first.

Kacie got her first tooth a week before her first birthday. And it has always seemed that when a baby tooth gets loose, it takes a long time to fall out. And an even longer time for her adult teeth to come in. When she lost her front teeth, it was close to a year before the adult teeth broke through! Two years ago, she had 5 teeth out at the same time. I have had her at the Dentist 3 times this past year because she was intermittantly complaining of some discomfort, not really the excruciating toothache pain. They took Xrays and said no problems. Only the adult teeth up against the baby teeth trying to come out. It even caused a bump to swell up on her gum, inflammed that would go back down with only mild pain. Those teeth are still all in the same place.

The lump in her cheek is the same. The only discomfort was for 3-4 days in the beginning, she says. So, about October 1st. No pain now, never she says.

I know this topic strayed to dental, but sometimes diversions happen.

Thanks, Gail

whew!!! Now you can have a
whew!!! Now you can have a happy thanksgiving.
hugs,
Judy

ketziah35

plh4gail said:

Stephanie
She is 10. And 3 years ago she had a tooth pulled on the left lower side. They put a spacer there to leave room and the tooth is just now peeking through. I'm thinking it makes sense the bone destruction is from the tooth pulled. Why didn't the DR tell me this in the first place. My mind went where she led it. At first.

Kacie got her first tooth a week before her first birthday. And it has always seemed that when a baby tooth gets loose, it takes a long time to fall out. And an even longer time for her adult teeth to come in. When she lost her front teeth, it was close to a year before the adult teeth broke through! Two years ago, she had 5 teeth out at the same time. I have had her at the Dentist 3 times this past year because she was intermittantly complaining of some discomfort, not really the excruciating toothache pain. They took Xrays and said no problems. Only the adult teeth up against the baby teeth trying to come out. It even caused a bump to swell up on her gum, inflammed that would go back down with only mild pain. Those teeth are still all in the same place.

The lump in her cheek is the same. The only discomfort was for 3-4 days in the beginning, she says. So, about October 1st. No pain now, never she says.

I know this topic strayed to dental, but sometimes diversions happen.

Thanks, Gail

sending you relaxation
I know how difficult this is for you. Medical issues are very stressful. I am wishing you and your family a peaceful Thanksgiving.