post radiation gum graft? - 10-26-2004 07:48 PM
Hi,
I'm now 5 months post radiation and went to see my periodontist for a cleaning and to assess the impact that radiation had on my gums. It seems the combination of gingival and periodontic disease plus radiation had caused some of my gums to recede significantly. My periodontist suggested a gum graft to build them back up again, the target area is a location that was part of the radiation field.
During my 6 week check up with my ENT doctor, I asked about doing a gum graft on radiated tissue and he said it was a bad idea, that radiation reduces the blood flow to tissue and that increases the chances that a graft would fail. I then asked my oncologist the same question and got the opposite response, that blood flow to radiated tissue is at its greates in the 3-6 months post radiation and decreases from there.
My question is whether any of you have had a gum graft or other graft procedure performed on radiated tissue and if so, what your experience has been. Thanks, Sheldon
I'm now 5 months post radiation and went to see my periodontist for a cleaning and to assess the impact that radiation had on my gums. It seems the combination of gingival and periodontic disease plus radiation had caused some of my gums to recede significantly. My periodontist suggested a gum graft to build them back up again, the target area is a location that was part of the radiation field.
During my 6 week check up with my ENT doctor, I asked about doing a gum graft on radiated tissue and he said it was a bad idea, that radiation reduces the blood flow to tissue and that increases the chances that a graft would fail. I then asked my oncologist the same question and got the opposite response, that blood flow to radiated tissue is at its greates in the 3-6 months post radiation and decreases from there.
My question is whether any of you have had a gum graft or other graft procedure performed on radiated tissue and if so, what your experience has been. Thanks, Sheldon