rad # 10 ... mouth sores

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bpell0402
bpell0402 Member Posts: 61
in Head and Neck Cancer #1
Mom has done 10 treatments ...

Mom has whitish sores in the back of the mouth and inside cheek on side of radiation treatment. Rad doctor confirmed they are the dreaded sores. They are not really painful now, only when she brushes. doctor recommended baking soda + salt rinses but not magic mouth wash as they are not painful yet. mom has been doing glutamine before treatment started. they recommended a salt rinse everyday before treatment as well.

I know sores are common and i have a very long list of potential options for treatment ...

however my question actually is about "DENTAL SCATTER" ... my mom has dental work in place. she got the OK for dentist at Sloan ( also told her she has the cleanest mouth he saw in weeks) .. he did not recommend any mouth guards or flouride trays .. just fluoride tooth paste. Rad doctor also said mouth guards where not needed or used.

how would i know if this is the reason for my mothers sores in her mouth? little disheartened that she got them so quickly.. especially when using the glutamine early on.

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  • sweetblood22
    sweetblood22 Member Posts: 3,228
    #2
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    You won't know what caused
    You won't know what caused the sores. Really know way of knowing. After 10 rads is when my sores started. I had to use my feed tube starting right after that. Mine came down hard when I got them. I was not using the glutamine though.

    I asked why I didn't get a mouth guard and asked about scatter and they looked at me like I had six heads. Never heard anything about it. When I read about it here, I wondered if that was why my mouth was so bad.

    During treatment when my mouth was so bad he told me it was not a fungal infection either, but he did prescribe meds in case. When I took them it did nothing to diminish the sores. He said it was mucasitis from the severe dry mouth and radiation zappage. It probably didn't help my mouth that I had only one salivary gland going into this, as far as the dry mouth goes.
  • D Lewis
    D Lewis Member Posts: 1,581 Member
    #3
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    Sores
    Hi bpell,
    My dentist did give me mouth trays for fluoride treatments, and told me that I could use the mouth trays during radiation to prevent the dreaded dental scatter off my many metallic fillings and crowns. My radiation oncologist told me I was NOT to use the trays during treatments, that they would interfere, and that they were not needed. So, I didn't use the trays. I got really nasty burns/white sores (and, now one year out - visible scarring) along both lateral sides of my tongue. I attribute it to the dental scatter. Would the trays have prevented this? - no idea.

    And, about using the mouth trays for fluoride treatments; they probably aren't really necessary. I have a Prevident blue toothpaste product, and a Prevident (post-brushing) pink gell. The pink gell is for applying to surface of teeth after brushing. The directions say to use these, and simply avoid rinsing or eating for a certain time afterward. I don't think the trays are required.

    I noticed that the sores seemed to improve after frequent rinsing with 1 cup water mixed with 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp baking soda.

    Deb
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    #4
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    D Lewis said:

    Sores
    Hi bpell,
    My dentist did give me mouth trays for fluoride treatments, and told me that I could use the mouth trays during radiation to prevent the dreaded dental scatter off my many metallic fillings and crowns. My radiation oncologist told me I was NOT to use the trays during treatments, that they would interfere, and that they were not needed. So, I didn't use the trays. I got really nasty burns/white sores (and, now one year out - visible scarring) along both lateral sides of my tongue. I attribute it to the dental scatter. Would the trays have prevented this? - no idea.

    And, about using the mouth trays for fluoride treatments; they probably aren't really necessary. I have a Prevident blue toothpaste product, and a Prevident (post-brushing) pink gell. The pink gell is for applying to surface of teeth after brushing. The directions say to use these, and simply avoid rinsing or eating for a certain time afterward. I don't think the trays are required.

    I noticed that the sores seemed to improve after frequent rinsing with 1 cup water mixed with 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp baking soda.

    Deb

    Rinse
    Try a Tsp of baking soda about 1/4 glass of water and a few Tsp of hydrogen peroxide.

    JG
  • sweetblood22
    sweetblood22 Member Posts: 3,228
    #5
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    Skiffin16 said:

    Rinse
    Try a Tsp of baking soda about 1/4 glass of water and a few Tsp of hydrogen peroxide.

    JG

    Dlewis
    My tongue also has scars on it.

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