I am new to this site,but glad Ifound it.I have had radical neck surgery on dec.7,11 and am in my fifth week of a six week radiation treatment program. So I am concerned ,after reading many posts about posters loosing all there teeth. Does this happen to everyone that goes through radiation?

Stephenf - My son did not lose any teeth due to radiation, but it probably depends on the type of cancer and where exactly the radiation is directed. Perhaps you could tell us a little more about your own experience and type of oral cancer? My son had SCC (Squamous Cell Cancer) just under the right side of his tongue and had 1/6 of his tongue removed. I'm sure others will be along that can relate more directly to your own experience. It's good you found us here. It's the best place to be for the very latest information and compassionate help. Let us know how you are doing.

Welcome to OCF Stephen. There are over 8000 members of OCF. Recently there has been a thread about losing teeth from radiation damage. I would guess that there could be at most 20-40 members who have been affected by this. That figure is actually very low out of 8000! My teeth werent the best going into rads so it wasnt a huge surprise to me. I had fully expected to get implants or dentures unfortunately I had a Stage IV recurrence with complications making future teeth next to impossible.

It is imperative that an oral cancer patient who goes thru radiation use flouride trays for life and take impeccable care of their teeth. Brush after every single meal, use a waterpik with some peridex (prescription mouthwash) watered down twice a day and use the trays nightly. This will become a routine for you.

Best wishes with your treatments and recovery!

Stephen

Short answer: NO
Longer more verbose answer: The majority of people do NOT lose their teeth from radiation TX. As Christine notes, the deciding factor is the condition your teeth were in before radiation. Often patients have their teeth taken out before the radiation to avoid problems that are foreseeable.
My doctors insisted I see a specific prosthodontist (a dentist with advanced degrees) who specialized in oral cancer patients for a complete evaluation before TX. He cleared me for TX but noted I would need work afterwards. Basically once you have radiation, it's problematic to have any teeth pulled since the jaw may not heal. Getting cavities filled, crowns put on, or even root canals are all okay (I've had all of that done after my first bout of radiation with zero problems).
I do use my flouride trays every day even though I don't eat since the mucous actually supports plaque & decay.
Get recommendations from your treatment team on a dentist or prosthodontist as cancer doctors usually know good ones with cancer experience.
Charm

My teeth are a mess, but I go every 3 months for cleaning and flouride treatments, as well as using the trays at night. I seem to have a lot of cavities, but neither my RO or my dentist feels the need to pull them. I had a thorough dental exam and x-rays prior to radiation.

My husband had his teeth checked prior to treatment but the dentist was not familiar with oral cancer. He has lost most of them gradually to decay and loosening but their is a difference in loss between the side where he received the heaviest radiation and the other side of his mouth. He has had bone growth material and is getting 16 implants in the next month or two.

I haven't lost mine, but my dentist (an oral cancer survivor himself) has worked hard to keep it that way. You just have to be vigilant and maybe see the dentist a little more often than you used to.

Thanks for all the responses,I did goto my dentist before I started Radiation.He did a lot of preventative maint. Work ,I have fluoride trays,electric toothbrush and flosser and he made it clear to me how important dental hygiene would be. so I have been working on that,

I wish I could have kept mine but the Drs say I would have lost them, not from just the radiation but add in the Implants and Chemo and POW, they would have gone then. If only I had to or enough to gnaw a stek bone or some nice Porterhouse tail fat.

Oncologist said I would loose my teeth

Radiation OC said, maybe

My dentist, bless her heart, said she didn't see any reason to pull them, so let try to get through this intact. She won

Made it through with the teeth and have had no problems to date.

Kevin