Time to "brush up" on things...

BugHunter
BugHunter Member Posts: 152
edited March 2014 in Head and Neck Cancer #1
I am 31 months post tx and just had to have some major dental work done. (well, it felt major to me). I had a root canal on my rear molar where my tumor was along with other work (sedation dentistry rocks!) They at first wanted to extract it, but I would have to go through 20 hyperbaric chamber treatments before the extraction and 10 post extraction. The extraction would cast around $400 and the chamber treatments would run $100,000.00! And if blue cross is an 80/20 plan I am on the hook for 20K. If THAT fails and gets infected, I will have to have my lower left jawbone removed and a leg bone grafted in. So, be sure to "brush up" and keep your teeth in mind even way down the road when you are "better"!!!

Comments

  • Hondo
    Hondo Member Posts: 6,636 Member
    #2
    Hi BugHunter

    I am in bad shape for any dental work as I can’t open my mouth more then ½ inch, also can’t find any dentist he in Lafayette who known how to work on people who had Cancer. The last time I went to my Doctor he told me that when my teeth start to give problems and need to be removed more then likely I will have to remove the jaw bone as well.

    I ask only one question, if they knew this before hand, why I was not told to have all these teeth removed before treatment. Makes you wonder!

    Take care and hang in there.
  • soccerfreaks
    soccerfreaks Member Posts: 2,788 Member
    #3
    Hondo said:

    Hi BugHunter

    I am in bad shape for any dental work as I can’t open my mouth more then ½ inch, also can’t find any dentist he in Lafayette who known how to work on people who had Cancer. The last time I went to my Doctor he told me that when my teeth start to give problems and need to be removed more then likely I will have to remove the jaw bone as well.

    I ask only one question, if they knew this before hand, why I was not told to have all these teeth removed before treatment. Makes you wonder!

    Take care and hang in there.

    PT
    Following my intitial surgery, I underwent some extensive physical therapy, hondo, to eliminate trismus (mouth closure, basically) caused by the surg. This happened at the same time I was undergoing chemo and rads, so I am not sure I took complete advantage of it at the time, but even so, we were able to get my mouth to open from about 19mm to nearly 30mm (this is the difference between barely getting one finger in and easily getting two in, for example).

    Please consider this possibility hondo. I am doing it again, and plan to take greater advantage of it this time.

    Take care,

    Joe
  • SmithMama2
    SmithMama2 Member Posts: 48
    #4
    Hondo said:

    Hi BugHunter

    I am in bad shape for any dental work as I can’t open my mouth more then ½ inch, also can’t find any dentist he in Lafayette who known how to work on people who had Cancer. The last time I went to my Doctor he told me that when my teeth start to give problems and need to be removed more then likely I will have to remove the jaw bone as well.

    I ask only one question, if they knew this before hand, why I was not told to have all these teeth removed before treatment. Makes you wonder!

    Take care and hang in there.

    teeth removed
    My husband had to have 9 teeth removed before he started treatment, so now he has NO back teeth at all on top or on bottom. They said that if he had more time, they could have repaired the teeth, and they would have had time to heal, but because treatment needed to start quickly that was impossible. It was a radical thing to do, and now that he is 4 weeks post-treatment, eating again is SO hard as he has nothing to pulverize with. But the dentist says maybe in January he can get a partial made for new grinders. And maybe at some time in the future he might get dental implants. Has anyone on this board had that done successfully, or does it create a higher risk of needing jaw bone replacement?

    I had no idea that hyperbaric treatments were so expensive! I am so sorry that some of you have more difficult treatments in your future. Dental work is my husbands most fearful procedure, so my heart goes out to you Bughunter and Hondo. Keep us posted. You guys offer so much positive support to so many on this board. Please know that you are really appreciated!!!
  • Hondo
    Hondo Member Posts: 6,636 Member
    #5
    SmithMama2 said:

    teeth removed
    My husband had to have 9 teeth removed before he started treatment, so now he has NO back teeth at all on top or on bottom. They said that if he had more time, they could have repaired the teeth, and they would have had time to heal, but because treatment needed to start quickly that was impossible. It was a radical thing to do, and now that he is 4 weeks post-treatment, eating again is SO hard as he has nothing to pulverize with. But the dentist says maybe in January he can get a partial made for new grinders. And maybe at some time in the future he might get dental implants. Has anyone on this board had that done successfully, or does it create a higher risk of needing jaw bone replacement?

    I had no idea that hyperbaric treatments were so expensive! I am so sorry that some of you have more difficult treatments in your future. Dental work is my husbands most fearful procedure, so my heart goes out to you Bughunter and Hondo. Keep us posted. You guys offer so much positive support to so many on this board. Please know that you are really appreciated!!!

    SmithMana2
    Thanks for the feed back, its nice to have a place where other understand; most people I talk too can’t understand the everyday problems of living with the side affects of Cancer and Cancer treatment. I go on December 4 for another P.E.T. I am not worried about as I know I don’t go alone. My faith in the one I put my life in will be there with me as he always does.

    Thanks again and God bless

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