Losing teeth instead of hair

johnom
johnom Member Posts: 86 Member
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
I was asked if anyone found their teeth were damaged by the chemo or radiation treatments. I said I would ask here, the best source of information anywhere. Has anyone experienced problems with teeth breaking or brittle, etc.?

Comments

  • scouty
    scouty Member Posts: 1,965 Member
    #2
    I did not have any radiation but did 8 months of chemo and because of Avastin, I could not floss my teeth. My gums did not look healthy and my teeth darkened even though I was brushing several times a day to try to get that nasty taste out of my mouth. They always felt "dirty" when I would run my tongue across them. I have been off of chemo 4 months now and my teeth are whitening up and my gums are much better. It took almost 3 months for my taste buds to get almost back to normal.

    I didn't really feel like my teeth were more brittle and had no breakage.

    Lisa P.
  • neon356
    neon356 Member Posts: 137 Member
    #3
    Yes,I've had a lot of tooth problems due to bone loss from chemo. Almost every upper tooth has become loose to the point where extraction was necessary. Unfortunately I didn't know that this was a possible side effect, and waited too long. If I had known, my medical insurance would have taken care of it. Now that it's considered a dental problem the expense has been on me.
    Carl
  • slammer
    slammer Member Posts: 120
    #4
    Hi John, I don't know too much about the true story of it all but I did read before I started my chemo, to have a dental check-up,(which I didn't) But have heard of chemo doing some damage to gums, I couldn't brush teeth w/ a real toothbrush lasttime around because of mouth sores so bad had to use a Q-tip gently but I made it. They may discolor too somewhat, but I just went to dentist while on chemo for a root canal, a previous condition, but checked w/ my oncologist first, he said ok..gotta do it in between cuz of bleeding, Good luck on your search.
    Amy
  • aspaysia
    aspaysia Member Posts: 250
    #5
    My teeth were completely buggered by the chemo/radiation before surgery and more follow-up chemo. I did not feel like taking proper care of them on a daily basis. I consulted my dentist but he was afraid to even clean them for fear of stirring up bacteria.
    My oncologist claimed it was the radiation just as the raiologist always blamed the chemo for whatever was going on.
    I am now in the process of getting crowns on all my teeth because they are crumbling. There was no bone loss or serious infection but the fillings started to fall out.
    I do not know what one can do to prevent this sort of thing from happening if the dentists are worried about working on teeth while patients are undergoing treatment.
    Aspaysia, getting used to her new chompers.

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