To add to what Gary has posted -- our dental oncologist (who is an expert in side-effects of HNC radiation) also encourages chewing xylitol gum after eating. It is a known cavity preventative (reduces amount of sugars in the mouth) and the chewing stimulates the production of saliva, again helping tooth health. We use a brand called XyliMax, from Finland, availabel at dentists' offices. Barry has found it better than sipping water or in fact, almost anthing else if his mouth feels a bit dry.

Barry's regime similar to that of Gary, daily flouride trays, cleaning 4x a year, careful daily dental hygiene --flossing, brushing, Biotene products etc., minor "routine" fillings would be OK to have done by Barry's own (good) dentist as our dental oncologist is now comfortable with his skill but any serious work, such as extractions if he cracks a tooth would have to be done by a surgeon experienced in radiation patients and might well involve HBO treatment. They see less than 3% ORN in current HNC patients, possibly because they are mostly getting tomoTherapy and only back of mouth gets much radiation.

Gail