teeth

ricksmithgolfer

Had my first teeth xrays since finishing my Tonsil Cancer treatment last September. I was a little nervous after reading all the possible issues with teeth after radiation. Dentist said all looks excellent with no decay and gums look perfect. My treatment consisted of 35 rads (70 greys to right side and 54 greys to left side) Cancer was on right side and left side rads were done as a precautionary measure. Also 3 high doses of Cisplatin chemo. NED by the way!! I currently have my teeth cleaned every 3 months.  My daily hygene routine is to brush after every meal with my sonacare electric toothbrush. In addition I use a sonacare waterpick after every meal. I highly reccommend the waterpick. You won't believe all the food paticles the waterpick removes. At night before bed, I use 1% flouride on my teeth.

I'm very fortunate now that I have recouped 80 - 90% of my saliva back. Today, my Dentist could not believe the amount of saliva I was now producing versus my last appointment 3 months ago. He has really been keeping a close eye on me. My dental trays were pretty much falling apart for my flouride treatments. He said today I really did not need the trays any longer. He now wants me to apply the 1% flouride to my teeth using a toothbrush and spit out the excess. Do this right before I go to bed. Leave the coating of flouride on my teeth all night. The only reason for not using the trays any longer is because I have the good quality of saliva back. If I did not have the saliva he would have me continue using the trays. Hopefully, I don't go backwards in saliva production. For those of you wanting to know what I'm using - Flouridex 1%.

 

Happy brushing,

 

Rick

ERomanO

Good for you!!

Hopefully you have set your mind at ease a bit after your checkup.  It's easy to get paraoid about things coming out of treatments. I know I was especially that way about my teeth.  But I have had nothing but good words from my dentist since I began my checkups a year ago, and my saliva is starting to improve as well.  No way is my saliva back to the level you're at at, but it no longer is a concern if I forget to take water with me everywhere I go like it used to be.

Here's to steady improvements!

P.S. - I never heard of anyone's improved saliva sliding backwards, so I wouldn't worry about that if I was you.

CivilMatt

It is your teeth I am looking at.

ricksmithgolfer,,

It would be a safe bet to predict that most, if not all H&N members find their (current and future) teeth to be given a lot of attention when radiation is part of their cancer   treatment plan.  I know that in my case my radiation oncologist had to have a discussion with my dentist before she would sign off on my treatment plan.  It all worked out, I started treatment with all my teeth and I still have them 7+ years post.

I take pretty good care of them, I use a sonic care electric toothbrush and a water pick, along with bubble gum flavored fluoride rinse.

I do occasionally think about going backwards on where I am today. I generally do not give it to much attention, but the thoughts are there (fleetingly so) .

What I am more concerned with is why don’t you drop me a note in the current ROLL CALL 2019 and tell us a little bit about yourself and what you have gone through. I have a real nice place between Revbyrd and Roar just waiting for you.

Now, back to work on my outside project.

It is warm and sunny right now, which is not what Andy the weatherman predicted today.

MATT

Newant

Wow! Your dental hygiene

Wow! Your dental hygiene routine is just impressive!

ricksmithgolfer

Hi Wiziard,

Hi Wiziard,

I'm now 2 years 8 months from finishing my treatment for tonsil / lymph node cancer stage 1. It was stage 1 because the cancer was hpv 16 positive. If it was not hpv related it would been considered stage 4. Treatment was the same no matter what stage. 70 greys radiation to cancer side and 54 to non cancer side as a precautionary measure plus 3 chemo sessions of high dose Cisplatin. Right now I am doing very well and have minimum side effects. I can't complain. As far as the dentist goes I am doing very well. I had one tiny cavity about 4 months ago which was taken care of no problem. My teeth were in very good shape before I started cancer treatment. I now go to the dentist every 3 months for cleanings and check up by my dentist. I'm one of the lucky ones and got the majority of my saliva back and 100% of my taste. You did not state what your issues / treatment was and how long it has been. Only advise I can give you is go to the dentist every 3 months to stay on top of things and use prescription strength flouride toothpaste and possible dental trays if prescribed. Hope this helps. Take care and God Bless.

Rick

Kaida

The first thing you have to

The first thing you have to do is to consult a dentist. Everything can be fixed if you visit a good dentist. Well, suppose you can't afford yourself a good dentist. In that case, there are a lot of websites on the internet where you can buy different products and medicines that can help you restore your teeth without visiting a doctor. It can be an expensive procedure, but it is worth it. I am sure you will manage to treat your teeth.

KAL22

Teeth

I agree, very important to see the dentist often. During radiation my wisdom tooth "exploded". It was the most painful thing i ever went through. My gums were also very impacted from radiation. It has been a year now since finishing treatment and about 8 months cancer free- I have a scan in two weeks. My gums are still very sensitive. I did also just finish a round of flouride treatment. Best of luck to anyone going through this!

wbcgaruss

Hello And Welcome

To the forum KAL22 and congratulations on finishing treatment and being cancer-free.
I am glad you are mindful of mouth and dental care because once we go through this it is much more important for the rest of our life.
I see the dentist every 6 months for a cleaning and fluoride treatment.
The dentist has me gargle every morning after brushing with Act Dry Mouth mouthwash for at least 30 seconds and
at night before I go to bed I brush and follow up with a higher dose fluoride paste called Denta 5000.
The toothpaste I use was recommended by an oral care specialist called Squiggle Fluoride.
I also brush after every meal.
I also floss once a day and use the small dental brushes between my teeth after meals.
Sounds like a lot but once you get it in your routine it's not too bad.
Check with your dentist and see if he is up on dealing with H&N folks.
The gal that cleans my teeth and my dentist are very aware of it and my situation.
I have been referred also to an oral surgeon for some things and they are really up on it and work closely when necessary with my radiation doctor to be sure of radiation fields and strength of radiation applied.

Wishing You The Best-Take Care-God Bless-Russ

MPennak

Congrats on a great report for your teeth. Similar treatment for neck and tonsil hpv+ 16 cancer, but the radiation basically destroyed my teeth by stripping away all the enamel. I am told that happened because I had to be on an antibiotic for much of my radiation treatments because of a life threatening abscess in my right lymph node where the cancer was (it put me in the ICU for 4 days and oncology wing for another 4 days). Have to have crowns for all my teeth. Decay instantly became a problem, notwithstanding fluoride toothpaste and pre-treatment fluoride coating. Last radiation treatment 9.17.21. The only good news and it is really good news that at 4 months out, the PET scan showed up as NED! Don't even ask how much it costs to have crowns on that many teeth.

Logan51

Had 7 Crowns already when I went thru tx for NPC back in early-09. Had 1 replaced and 2 new ones w/2 root canals. Over 13 years have spent over $13-K out of pocket on Dental.

As for the enamel- that happened to me, and most of us, that get Rads to the mouth. Your decay is far more extreme than anyone I am aware of, though. Did you go thru a pre-tx Dental exam with a full X-ray of your teeth?

And as for the first PET, 95% (ballpark) of the 3 or 4 month PETs don't really show anything. Their main purpose is to establish a baseline to compare future PETs to. A number of cases where Drs. did not realize that and did unnecessary Ops. and everything came back negative= what they saw were false Positives. It's your 1-year that'll give them a chance to really say you are NED.

Good luck with the Dental bills.

MPennak

Hey Logan 51. Yes, I had a full dental including xrays pre-treatment, including a cleaning and fluoride treatment. Teeth were fine, then. I don't have decay in all these teeth, but the enamel is so gone that the only realistic hope of saving the teeth is to do crowns. They are just too soft and too easy to decay to last. I did not know at the time that the combination of antibiotics and radiation would really elevate the amount of tissue damage. It also put in the hospital at the end of the radiation treatment in a life or death state. Still, had to have the antibiotic -- the abscess would have killed me otherwise.

I agree that the first PET isn't definitive, but the result it is still better than the alternative!

cesasder

I've always been afraid of having dental problems. Because of what my acquaintances have said horrible things about what can be due to poor hygiene and what I have seen on the internet, I try to treat my teeth as carefully as possible.

swimbody

What are y'all's ages? This is important. If a 28 year old had no issues but a 65 year old did. That's telling. No ages are discussed here and I don't get it. Lifestyle before cancer also makes a difference. Were you a smoker before this, did you exercise? Were you near your ideal body weight? Or is this just all fluff, magic for one and a nightmare for another. Details in determining outcomes is important here. I'm two weeks out from my last of 33 rad treatments. All done on my "left" side. I put that in quotes since the beam came on about 20 degrees towards the right side and crossed over to the left side. I'm 50 in March got down to my ideal weight before the diagnosis. Was a lifelong drinker of alcohol. This cancer scare has cured that for sure. I drank a ton of craft beer and any manner of inebriants that were available. I ate pretty healthy. No fast food for well over 10 years. A sugary soda once a week (diet Coke is a drink made by satanic devil worshipers so if you're drinking this stuff stop immediately). I exercised off and on. I was a really good collegiate swimmer and wouldn't let that physique get out of shape too often. I called it reeling it back in. Teeth were in pretty good shape going in. I have 4 crowns and many of my teeth were filled after youthful cavities. My parents had poor oral health so they never preached to us to treat our teeth better. Nevertheless I was given a good assessment at MD Anderson before treatment.

That's important stuff to know before I tell all of you that three years later my teeth are magically healthy after 33 freaking treatments. I'm curious about you guys and gals.

wbcgaruss

Swim I think what affects teeth after this treatment the most is loss of saliva, it is a biggee. If you were radiated and your saliva came back really well I don't think you have to worry about your teeth other than normal care. I have read and talked to my dentist about it and-wait-stop right there-now I remember I have a web page saved on it that gives you all the lowdown on it. Your saliva flow is very important in volume and contents.

https://oralcancerfoundation.org/complications/xerostomia/

Take Care-God Bless-Russ

DiazwzAU

I, too, have a similar problem and have been trying to deal with it for a very long time. I'm almost getting paranoid and thinking that the treatment will never end. I'm even on my way to giving up, but not yet because I have a great dentist thehealthysmile.net, who finds the best treatment for me, which means there is a chance that I can restore saliva to its full extent. I am having a hard time and need the support and experience of those people who have already been able to cope with this.

wbcgaruss

DiazwzAu I assume your problem is with dental care or something related to Head and Neck Cancer and you are having a struggle with it for the last six months and can control or solve your problem but it is a very real struggle and a burden on you and you are frustrated beyond measure dealing with it.

We understand the struggle here on this forum. We have dealt with hardships and disease and difficult recoveries and have come through some of the most difficult circumstances imaginable. I am sure we can help you deal with this.

So Diaz could you please be more specific as to exactly what it is you are dealing with, give us some details of your situation and treatment and exactly what you are dealing with in this recent struggle you are having and I am sure the members on this forum can give you some guidance, help, and loving support to deal with your situation.

Wishing you the best-Take care-God Bless-Russ

wbcgaruss

I am doing well Suz and thanks for the well wishes I hope you have a great rest of the day.

Take care-God Bless-Russ