I have been fortunate not to have had radiation treatment after my surgery in May but my teeth have started shifting, moving from the left to right. It seems to be happening quite quickly, a notable difference in two weeks. My teeth in the front are overlapping and one is almost in front of the others. I went to the ENT man for my check up on Friday and he says my jaw is significantly out of alignment, it is being pulled down due to the partial neck dissection. He asked me if I was sure I hadn't had radiation. He has referred me to an orthodontists to see if he can rectify this...not sure how....and says if he can't I'd need to see the maxiofacial surgeons. I hope that doesn't mean more surgery. The area under my left hand side jaw has shrunken in very markly and I'm experiencing bouts of extreme exhaustion, pain in my neck, face and throat. Also that horrible tight elastic band around the throat feeling.

My op was in England and I had a wonderful team there. I'm now in South Africa where the medical system is different (no team) and I'm feeling a bit anxious about the continuity of my treatment. They have all my records from the UK.

I would be very grateful for any information or comments.

What you are experiencing is similar to the late effects of radiation in some so that is why you were asked about radiation, in my opinion. What happens is the muscles start tightening up from scar tissue that is being generated by the body from the damage caused by surgery. If blood doesn't flow, the body knows something is wrong and starts generating tissue in defense. In addition, muscles are compensating for the others that were damaged from the surgery. Sometimes physical therapy can help "stretch" the muscles involved so they aren't so tight and get you some relief for the jaw.

As far as the other aches and pains I'm sorry I don't know much about the recovery process of neck dissections since I only had chemo and radiation.

I hope this helps.

Ed

Thank you Ed, that helps. I suppose it's impossible to ask what sort of treatment I could expect to correct my jaw and teeth. I'm feeling a bit anxious and knowledge does seem to help.

Just for the record; after seeing the orthodontist and Macio Facial specialist they agree that my crocked teeth and unaligned bite is caused by a larger tongue. According to them the teeth are supported by the soft tissue in the mouth. They fitted wires on the inside of the front teeth to prevent them from shifting anymore. They can't do anything to the alignment to improve my bite so that I can chew better. At the moment I can barely chew, my teeth feel as if they're wearing high heels and they don't know where there place is, where they should rest. But it's a small problem.