Tracy, glad your at a major cancer center. I was treated by an oral surgeon who had a lot of experience with cancer patients and he removed two of my back teeth on the side of the swollen lymph node. One on top and one on the bottom. I am now pursuing repair of them as well as additional work I need done with a dentist who also has a lot of experience with oral cancer. I had a lot of perio problems in my youth and lost a lot of teeth due to bone loss in my 30's. So try to keep as many teeth as you can. It is difficult to eat after treatment with a lot of dental issues.

finaly some input from those who have been there!! i thank you all!!

Welcome Tracey
My hubby has had quite a bit of dental work done since treatment but so far he has managed to hold on to most of his teeth ..he had better , his mouth is now worth more than my house!
Keep in touch and let us know how you are doing.
Cheers
Marica

Tracey, our teeth are very precious and unless it is absolutely necessary for some reason, never let your dentist pull your teeth. I had rather poor teeth before diagnosis and I got all bad teeth filled before I knew I had cancer. So I kept all my teeth before treatment. The radiologist wasn't concerned about metal fillings in my teeth and I am sure they would not affect the treatment. Maybe I am more conscious about dental health after my illness and I used dental floss regularly, brushed my teeth after every meal, my teeth are much better than before. Let us know what your final decision about your teeth is.

Karen.

Mark is right. It is very Old School thinking that all the dentition has to go. Only those teeth that are in some way compromised and cannot be restored completely before radiation begins, or which are peiodontally compromised ( gum disease) in an advanced manner need to go. Fight for all your teeth. One day you will be wanting to chew real food again....it takes awhile, but that day will come. Not being able to because some guy wanted to take the easy (and in some old timers perspective, safe) path and yank them all, will be a problem later. But you have to have the mind set that oral hygiene and super careful cleaning of your mouth from now until forever, is going to be part of your daily mantra... periodontal disease after radiation is a very bad place to find yourself.

well im off to university of maryland this morning. lets see what this dentist has to say. im going to fight to keep these teeth!! hopefully i will prevail. ill send a mssg later and let you know how it went. once again thanks to all!!!

It was a so called dental onologist at a major CCC that told me to have ALL of my teeth pulled -even though I was having IMRT. I (after an extensive consult with my regular dentist and his son who had recent information form UCLA school of dentistry about managing oral cancer patients) decided against it and kept all of them. Many say here that losing their teeth was the worst part of the whole cancer experience. Like Brian says, this is old school thinking. There is a small risk, about 10%, of ORN (and truth be known some people who HAVE all their teeth yanked get ORN anyway).

All of my molars are crowned and yes, it did cause some radiation side scatter and additional pain and suffering at the the time, mainly blisters on the tongue (but no more).

Plan on getting dental trays, frequent office and at home flouride treatments, 3x a year cleaning and ratcheting up your oral hygiene. Get all of your repairs done now. Buy a Water Pik. Make them give you the hard facts on why you should have ANY teeth pulled.

well i won the battle of the teeth!!!! the dentist i saw today was very thorough and said he saw no reason to pull any teeth. that put a smile on my face. next week i go for simulation and get a peg tube and iv port. then i guess the games will begin!!! thank you all for your input and help!! im sure ill be back with more questions. its great to know your here.

Tracey
I'm so glad that you are keeping the teeth, makes for a much easier smile
Now that you have joined us, don't forget that we are all here to help, and a search of the site will also help you to get things in perspective and to get the questions ready for the Docs..
Sunshine... love and hugs
Helen

Hi Tracey; Even way up here in the cold boonies of Canada they make an effort to help us keep our teeth..so good for you for being persistent.
There are so many issues that we deal with during the course of this battle, one less is a positive direction to head in.
All the best to you as your journey begins. You will find a good listening ear always at this site for any and all the frustrations/worries that can and do arise. This will be the experience of your life, and worth every ounce of determination you can put into it.
My oral hygiene tip to add to the others. Get a good electric toothbrush. It just swishes out all those bits that little or no saliva leaves behind. It also sets a good minimum time for brushing (2mins)
Like so many others on this site I rely on use of the Biotene products, toothpaste, mouthwash and mouth gel..easy on the tender tissues and good results.
Keep us posted,
Cheers, Fran