teeth

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

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!

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.

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!

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.

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.

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