I am 7 years out and last spring had my throat dilated so I could swallow easier. It had gotten progressively harder to swallow through the years. They put me out for the dialation, had a sore throat for a few days and have been swallowing fine ever since. Wish I had done it sooner! I too am having numbing around my mouth and lips. I had thought it was a side effect of my current chemo for breast cancer, but now that I read Brian's post and think back it has been coming on slowly for longer than this treatment. My smile hasn't been affected yet :-)