I am a concerned daughter who is writing to find out if anyone on this site has undergone surgery for osteoradionecrosis of the jaw ? My dad received radiation therapy for tongue cancer in 2004. He had a dental procedure 2 years ago and has had complications with healing due to the radiation of his cancer treatment in 2004. His healing, we thought, was slow going but in fact, a portion of the bone has deteriorated and will need resection. The surgeon we met with has explained the procedure and I was wondering if anyone on here has experience with this type of surgery and what the surgery was like, who was the surgeon, and what the recovery looks like. Any helpful feedback would be appreciated. My father is 80 years old. He has undergone a great deal of pain and his quality of life has diminished due to the complications of this healing.

I'm so sorry you're going through this. I'm a concerned daughter, too. My dad had Stage IV oral cancer twice, two different surgeries on his jaw and a wide mouth resection in between to clean up an antibiotic resistant infection, which is how they discovered the cancer had returned. We went through an awful lot in a short period of time, so some of it is a bit fuzzy in my memory. As I recall, the resection took almost as long as the mandiblectomy. He had a bit of swelling and pain afterwards, but we left the hospital a few days later. I don't think he had an NG tube after his resection.

I'm also looking for dental answers as I am worried about ORN. My dad has had teeth break off and an oral surgeon wants to remove them. It's so hard to know what to do sometimes. I hope you find the answers you're looking for and I hope knowing you're not alone in your struggles can bring you some comfort.