I'm sure that careful programming and IMRT played a big role in this, and also the remarkable resiliency of the human body. My CCC also has done extensive clinical trials on salivary function preservation, utilizing IMRT, so I am sure that I benefited from that as well. It was a major consideration when I was choosing which CCC fot RT The right parotid may have recovered sooner, I never really thought to have it checked until yesterday and it was just out of a curious thought that entered my mind during the exam.

XRT is another story but there have been a few here that also had some salivary function return after a number of years.

I still wake up with dry mouth sometimes but it is almost always when I have had heavily salt laden foods like pizza for dinner. Alcohol use will desicate your mouth as well, that's another reason why we don't advise alcohol consumption or AC mouthwashes, in addition to the obvious risk factors, especially in early post Tx.

Balancing this out some doctors had advised their patients that an occasional alcoholic beverage is not a significant risk. Like A glass of wine or beer with dinner (read - don't polish the bottle).

It takes a lot of time and patience to get salivary function and taste back.

Meticulous dental hygiene is absolutely imperative during the dry mouth time and actually for life (although I have to admit I don't do daily flouride treatments anymore).