Bariactric Oxygen therapy for tooth extraction after throat cancer

Riktar
Riktar Member Posts: 3
in Head and Neck Cancer #1

 I had throat cancer and underwent 7 weeks of chemo and radiation that concluded on July 2, 2019.

 I had a tooth fail (#31) that was supporting a bridge so aside from having to have the tooth pulled, I lost the bridge as well. 

 The dentist said the extraction was a little tougher than usual but I should be fine.

 Fast forward 2 weeks and I am seeing my ENT for a follow up check on how my throat is doing. As soon as he looked in my mouth and asked what had happened (Which I explained) he asked if I was advised about bariactric oxygen treatments. After telling him I was not he noted in his after visit report that it was "unfortunate" that no one advised me about having this done.

 So I printed off his report and went back to my dentist to ask about this.

 My dentist examined the area of the tooth extraction (Now 2 weeks old) and said he was going to take some extra steps by adding some type of dressing that doesn't taste to good and will have to be changed out 2 more times over the next 6 days but that I shouldn't worry about this. I am assuming that since he is adding another medicatied dressing that the "hole" hasn't completely closed up yet.

 He said that he is aware of the bariactric oxygen therapy but disagrees with my ENT advising me to have it done.

 I am going to call my radiation oncologist and ask her about this.

 I am not experiencing any pain or complications other than the mental stress I am now experiencing from this "disagreement" between my dentist and ENT.

Any advice would be great.

Comments

  • Riktar
    Riktar Member Posts: 3
    #2
    Many thanks for the reply and info!

     I am still waiting for my oncologist to weigh in but in the meanwhile I will take the ENT's advice and get the ball rolling on the HBOT.

    I will report back with results.

     

    Best wishes and may God bless you as well!

    Rick

  • wbcgaruss
    wbcgaruss Member Posts: 2,465 Member
    #3
    I Too

    Had throat cancer and underwent 7 weeks of chemo and radiation so we are in the same boat. About 8 months ago I had a tooth going bad that swelled up my jaw a bit as bad teeth do. I went to my dentist and he took X-rays and verified the tooth had to come out and gave me a prescription for antibiotics and sent me to an oral surgeon. He had sent me to him before when he thinks I should go to him rather than the dentist doing the extraction. My dentist knows my radiation history and the oral surgeon probably more as he confers with my cancer docs. The oral surgeon highly recommended I get the HBOT. I was inclined to just have him pull the tooth and be on my way but I could tell he was highly concerned that I should get the HBOT. So I took the recommendation and got the HBOT. 30 treatments before the extraction and 10 follow-up treatments after the extraction. This can have side effects like all our other treatments so I only had 6 follow-ups as it was affecting my vision. I had the tooth pulled and a 1 month follow up and all was well thank God. The question is for each person did you have radiation enough to have compromised healing in the jawbone? I recommend getting it to give yourself as much ability as possible to heal no question about it. Since you already had the tooth pulled I would recommend you get follow-up HBOT as soon as possible to aid in the healing otherwise you risk having complications. Again I recommend getting the HBOT and do get follow-up treatments post-extraction and start them as soon as possible to help in your extracted area for healing. Here is a link that explains the situation with radiation around the head and neck area as you can get osteoradionecrosis (ORN), or bone death. https://oralcancerfoundation.org/complications/osteoradionecrosis/ Unfortunately this is another after-effect we have to deal with as Head & Neck people. I thought this would be good for only one tooth but the oral surgeon said it can last and help for up to 2 years. here is a link from Johns Hopkins talking about HBOT therapy.  https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatment-tests-and-therapies/hyperbaric-oxygen-therapy

    I am not trying to alarm you with any of this. This is a situation where you may get a tooth pulled and it heals fine without HBOT but if for some reason it doesn't then you will look back and say gee I wish I would have gotten it done. I think also you can get the HBOT done and still have problems as they can't guarantee this will 100% protect you. So this is a situation of getting the treatment to give yourself the best possible outcome you can to get an edge on it so to speak.

    So my recommendation is to get some follow up HBOT since you already had the tooth pulled and I am Wishing You The Best-Take Care-God Bless-Russ

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