hi everyone , first of all i would like to thank everyone who posted replys & sent me pm's after my last blog [glad july has gone] it is heartwarming to know how many kind & caring people there are out there.especialy when i know the majoritey are unwell themselfs.i have told my mum about this site & she was gratefull for all your suport. she arrived back from galway yesterday morning covered from head to toe in a nerve rash so i am sending her to the drs this morning she needs to be seen ,mind you its a militry operation trying to get an appointment at her drs . i am feeling much better after my episode last week will deff look out for days 8 & 9 next time [12aug] that must be my low time. got terrible toothache now & a sore mouth tried mouth wash it helps but ,still very sore ,my teeth wern't in great shape to start with but my front one at the bottom feels like the enamel has gone its very sensitive this morning . regular toothpastse are hurting so going to get some childrens one today see if that helps.will ring oncology to see if i can go to the dentist if it gets any worse ,[my nightmare] had a bad experince with a dentist when i was young so only go when i need to wrong i know . luckly my children are ok with them so managed not to pass on my fear there.any advice about mouth care etc will be gratefully recieved do all the usual but if anyone has a remedy i would be happy to know .hope everyone is well to day good luck to anyone undergoing any treatment take care love n hugs treeeze xxx
FormerMember
I'm on chemo and have just had to have some work done on one of my teeth so my oncologist gave me antibiotic cover which I had to take 24 hours beforehand.
I thought this was odd. I lost a filling a third of the way through my chemo. It was the gold top of a ceramic filling. My dentist cheerfully did the repair ceramically and gave me the gold back again. I did tell him I was on 5FU and Calcium Polinate (vitamin to prepare the cells for the chemo).
A few weeks later, one of my buddies from the waiting room said she had had toothache and couldn't have any treatment until after it ended. She was on the same treatment as me, but without being nasty, I guessed she had a National Health Dentist.
Immediately after my chemo ended, the next day, I had a session with the hygienist, then another ceramic filling in a front tooth. They did seem to think there might be a danger for some people with infection. They had not once referred me to my oncologist.
I have not suffered from it I might add. I would have thought that it is better to have a theoretical risk of infection from treatment, rather than a serious risk of several months of infection from a decaying tooth. But then dentistry seems extremely counter intuitive to me.
I remember the nurse saying during my group chemo prep talk that everyone should go to the dentist beforehand as it was inadvisable to have treatment during chemo - I suppose we are just a lot more prone to infections, and less able to heal any wounds. I understand about the phobia: it is a very common fear and very hard to deal with. Have you tried Sensodyne toothpaste, which is intended for those with sensitive teeth? You could also try Corsadyl mouthwash (I used to work for a dentist and he suggested that for dental hygiene and infections) as that will help keep germs at bay. Both these products sell in supermarkets. It is a good idea to try to gently - GENTLY - floss between teeth as well, as it is particles of food getting down between the teeth and gums that casuses problems.
I would also mention eyes: I was not told about this at the hospital, but when I went for an eye-test and mentioned that I had had chemo, the optician revealed that this can also cause problems with eyesight years down the line. Another cheery fact for us all!
Hoping the tooth problem settles down, as I know that it is almost impossible where I live for new patients to get onto NHS dentists' lists - and you've got to be well-off for private treatment's bills - which we don't tend to be when being treated for cancer!
That I decided years ago that I would have private treatment because I was between dentists anyway, and I had never been offered ceramic fillings on the National Health.
So I went to a very posh dentist in the suburbs, chosen because he had the same name as my friend. He racked up £2K work on my teeth and they looked fantastic! If I had traded in my old banger I couldn't have bought a smashing new car for anything like that (which I could crash the next day), so I put it on my credit card. This mounted up and then my bank offered me enough money to get out of debt. I went for it, and a couple of years later, I was diagnosed with Cancer, and the loan insurance, feeble as it was, paid up. That is jammy good luck.
Anyway, I have a different private dentist and pay him out of my rapidly diminishing savings, because I still think it's worth any money I still have. The hygienist has saved me a lot of pain by teaching me how to floss properly and I have had hardly any trouble and it has cost me very little more than if I had a NHS dentist. Perhaps the same.
Sorry to sound defensive, and I am sorry if other people suffer a lot. My dentist gave me some fluoride toothpaste to rub on to a very painful tooth that didn't like being filled. To my chagrin, it worked very well, even though I normally avoid the stuff. It is added to our water supply so I don't normally need it.
Thanks anyway Penny. You know much more about chemo by a long way than I do. Was it a bit of "It can't happen to us" or were they just plain ignorant? I did ask, but got non-committal answers. If I had had an infection I would have whizzed back to the cancer centre with my confession in my hot little hand.
thankyou everyone for the advice on my toothache , i am using the cordosyl at the moment as the chemo nurse advised it as the best one , i will try the sensedine to see if it helps . struggled a bit today to eat but will go to the denist if it persists .i know what you mean penny about funds and cancer it seems you get penealised when you have cancer my wage is now in half but the bills are still in full not entiled to benefits untill october or so i have been told i have tried for dla but have been refused asked for a tribunal to decide if i can have it . our local cab said i should be entiled as chemo is down as a disibility but they still said no . i have three chlidren depentant on me & i am a single parent i have my youngest daughter who is 15 & i have my niece & nephew who live with me who are 11 & 7 . as yet the child benifit hasnt sent me anything & i have had them since march [its a long story]. so going private to the dentist at the moment is out of the question .i think the shortage of dentists is terrible 10yrs ago you could just walk in to one now they are like gold dust i wonder if we would put up with it if drs did the same .the cordosyl does work as do i also tried a effifesent pain killers they helped numb it . thank you again for all advice this site is a life line to me its so nice to hear from people who understand exactly how you are feeling take care love treeze xxx .
