hello im tracey 50 yr male diagnosed w squamous cell toungue nov 15 have had radical neck dissection jan 29 chemoradiation therapy should start in next few weeks

Welcome Tracey, Sorry you have had this trouble. Ask questions anytime and stay positive!

tracey, welcome to the site. Sorry you needed to find us. Are you being treated at a major comprehensive cancer center? If not, I would suggest you try to get to one so they can advise you what the best treatment plan is. Cancer centers treat only cancer patients and do hundreds, if not thousands, per year. They get pretty good at treating cancer and if you are a patient, you benefit by their vast experience. As Mark said, stay positive as your attitude will effect the outcome of your treatment.

yes i am to tate cancer center part of univ of md. i do have a question about teeth. i had 1 dentist tell me he would pull all teeth. my regular dentist said she thinks pull only those in the path of radiation. 2 others said i may not have to lose any. i have another appt friday at univ of md. my point is i have very good teeth. never any cavities i do have little periodotal disease but is under control. question is do i need to lose my teeth? after 50 yrs with no tooth problems having them pulled scares me more than the cancer and the treatments!!! thanks for your input!!

Welcome Tracey, sorry you had to find us. I live in Baltimore and am sending you a private email. I too have been treated and continue to be monitored at the University of Md. Carol

Tracey,

Welcome to this site -- you'll find plenty of people here who have been through what you're facing and who want to offer support.

What stage was your cancer? Was there any lymph node involvement at all? Right after my diagnosis, I also heard from one dentist that he might recommend pulling a number of teeth, but the consensus among my doctors overall was that it wasn't necessary. (I was 39 at the time.) I'm now almost 16 years out from treatment and still have all my original teeth. I have to be very careful about oral hygiene, of course, but I'm glad I didn't go with that one dentist's opinion.

Feel free to come back here as often as you want with questions as you continue with your treatment.

Cathy

Tracey,
If your teeth are in good shape you should not need to have any removed. (I have all mine). Consider that you will probably have long term challenges with eating (low saliva and sometimes swallowing difficulties) having teeth will make things easier. That said, go to the dentist that says "keep them" and have him/her really check them out and do what ever to put them in top notch form. I had mine cleaned and a "sealer" put on before treatment began. If you have a lot of metal fillings, ask the radiation oncologist if he/she thinks that the metal might cause problems with the radiation beam itself either by reflecting or absorbing some of the energy.

Teeth that have to be removed after treatments, pose additional potential problems. Those problems can be lessened by Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatments. Discuss this at length with your caregivers

In closing the idea that teeth must be removed is "old school" and many of us have our teeth. (and want to keep them)

Take care

Tracey,

I also kept all my teeth, until yesterday. But that is another story. Your issue may be the Periodontal Disease. My teeth have quite a few filling, but they are strongly rooted and free of periodontal issues so I kept them. If yours are cavity free, but loose because of bone loss, the dentists may be able to make a strong argument for pulling the teeth in the radiation field. They should have a Dental Oncologist at the Medical Center and that is who you should see. I have learned a lot about post radiation extractions over the last few weeks and it a little unsettling. I made out well, but you want this issue well addressed now.

Glenn

Hi Tracy,
Welcome to our support group.
My teeth were not in the best of shape when I was diagnosed, not horrible, but not top notch. No one ever suggested taking my teeth out. After my surgery I went to the dentist for a number of appointments to have some fillings and a couple root canals. All this was done before radiation started. I did end up losing one back tooth after radiation but the rest of my teeth are still intact.
Don't let someone pull all your teeth out, it's a procedure that cannot be reversed and life with no teeth must be very difficult.
Keep us informed of your progress!
Minnie

Tracy,

Welcome... you've gotten some good advice already, but I want to emphasize something Glenn said. You need to see an dental oncologist. In some states, they don't use that exact term, but the idea is to find a dentist with a specialty in treating oral cancer patients. The folks you talked to might be fine dentists, but you need someone who does this full time.

I had radiation, and I still have my teeth... other than the ones I lost when they removed the right side of my mandible.

Good luck, my friend.

Ken

Tracy, glad your at a major cancer center. I was treated by an oral surgeon who had a lot of experience with cancer patients and he removed two of my back teeth on the side of the swollen lymph node. One on top and one on the bottom. I am now pursuing repair of them as well as additional work I need done with a dentist who also has a lot of experience with oral cancer. I had a lot of perio problems in my youth and lost a lot of teeth due to bone loss in my 30's. So try to keep as many teeth as you can. It is difficult to eat after treatment with a lot of dental issues.

finaly some input from those who have been there!! i thank you all!!

Welcome Tracey
My hubby has had quite a bit of dental work done since treatment but so far he has managed to hold on to most of his teeth ..he had better , his mouth is now worth more than my house!
Keep in touch and let us know how you are doing.
Cheers
Marica

Tracey, our teeth are very precious and unless it is absolutely necessary for some reason, never let your dentist pull your teeth. I had rather poor teeth before diagnosis and I got all bad teeth filled before I knew I had cancer. So I kept all my teeth before treatment. The radiologist wasn't concerned about metal fillings in my teeth and I am sure they would not affect the treatment. Maybe I am more conscious about dental health after my illness and I used dental floss regularly, brushed my teeth after every meal, my teeth are much better than before. Let us know what your final decision about your teeth is.

Karen.

Mark is right. It is very Old School thinking that all the dentition has to go. Only those teeth that are in some way compromised and cannot be restored completely before radiation begins, or which are peiodontally compromised ( gum disease) in an advanced manner need to go. Fight for all your teeth. One day you will be wanting to chew real food again....it takes awhile, but that day will come. Not being able to because some guy wanted to take the easy (and in some old timers perspective, safe) path and yank them all, will be a problem later. But you have to have the mind set that oral hygiene and super careful cleaning of your mouth from now until forever, is going to be part of your daily mantra... periodontal disease after radiation is a very bad place to find yourself.

well im off to university of maryland this morning. lets see what this dentist has to say. im going to fight to keep these teeth!! hopefully i will prevail. ill send a mssg later and let you know how it went. once again thanks to all!!!

It was a so called dental onologist at a major CCC that told me to have ALL of my teeth pulled -even though I was having IMRT. I (after an extensive consult with my regular dentist and his son who had recent information form UCLA school of dentistry about managing oral cancer patients) decided against it and kept all of them. Many say here that losing their teeth was the worst part of the whole cancer experience. Like Brian says, this is old school thinking. There is a small risk, about 10%, of ORN (and truth be known some people who HAVE all their teeth yanked get ORN anyway).

All of my molars are crowned and yes, it did cause some radiation side scatter and additional pain and suffering at the the time, mainly blisters on the tongue (but no more).

Plan on getting dental trays, frequent office and at home flouride treatments, 3x a year cleaning and ratcheting up your oral hygiene. Get all of your repairs done now. Buy a Water Pik. Make them give you the hard facts on why you should have ANY teeth pulled.

well i won the battle of the teeth!!!! the dentist i saw today was very thorough and said he saw no reason to pull any teeth. that put a smile on my face. next week i go for simulation and get a peg tube and iv port. then i guess the games will begin!!! thank you all for your input and help!! im sure ill be back with more questions. its great to know your here.

Tracey
I'm so glad that you are keeping the teeth, makes for a much easier smile
Now that you have joined us, don't forget that we are all here to help, and a search of the site will also help you to get things in perspective and to get the questions ready for the Docs..
Sunshine... love and hugs
Helen

Hi Tracey; Even way up here in the cold boonies of Canada they make an effort to help us keep our teeth..so good for you for being persistent.
There are so many issues that we deal with during the course of this battle, one less is a positive direction to head in.
All the best to you as your journey begins. You will find a good listening ear always at this site for any and all the frustrations/worries that can and do arise. This will be the experience of your life, and worth every ounce of determination you can put into it.
My oral hygiene tip to add to the others. Get a good electric toothbrush. It just swishes out all those bits that little or no saliva leaves behind. It also sets a good minimum time for brushing (2mins)
Like so many others on this site I rely on use of the Biotene products, toothpaste, mouthwash and mouth gel..easy on the tender tissues and good results.
Keep us posted,
Cheers, Fran