I belong to an HMO (Kaiser Permanente) and they paid all of the expenses from UCSF including the dental oncologist consult and panorex x-rays. They also paid for a CT at UCSF and 100% of my followup visits until UCSF determines I don't need to be seen by them. The bill the HMO paid for my IMRT alone was over $300,000.00. There wasn't even a copay for ANY of it. My medical covered the dental oncology exam because it was a medical necessity. The radiation oncologist would not start therapy until the dental consult, they also insisted on an MRI, a PET scan and a Hep C test. The HMO moved me to the "head of the class" and I received the scans and tests in a matter of days. I also had a nutritionist at UCSF as well as one at Kaiser.

I determined later on that they weren't going to touch my teeth. The 10% chance of ORN wasn't worth it, not to mention that some of that percentage get ORN WITH their teeth pulled. They started out wanting to pull all of them, then changed it to just the ones in the radiation field. I am glad I kept my teeth. It takes a lot of discipline to stay on top of the maintenance required though. I use a WaterPik after every meal or snack, floss at least once a day, dental trays with flouride several times a week, 3 cleanings a year, etc.

My dentists son, who recently graduated from UCLA school of dentistry, has received some training as a standard part of his curriculum in treatment of cancer patients. He had some really great up to date materials and that helped also to make the decision to keep the teeth.

Maybe the dental oncologist at LLUMC can give you a referal.