Dental care

Hi John,

I use a waterpik. I used it for years prior to treatment and stopped using it halfway through radiotherapy due to sore mouth but went  back to using it once a day around 2 weeks ago. I'm now 6 weeks post treatment. I never discussed using it with max fac tho. Maybe I should have. When you start using a waterpik your gums will bleed until they get used to it, usually a couple of weeks. My advice would be to call max fac and ask their advice. 

Tracy

Hi I use a water polo but to be honest it’s only this  last year I’m  4 years post radiotherapy. I think in the first year my mouth would have been too sensitive. I used a curaprox for at least 2 years. all you can  do is try you’ll soon find out.  You will be being seen regularly at the minute si ask at next appointment 

Hazel 

I tried a water pick fairly recently. It really irritated my gums even at a low speed. Interdental brushes and floss for  me plus thorough brushing with an electric toothbrush. 

Hi John. For what it’s worth, I got fed up with my dentist’s lackadaisical approach to my teeth post-6 weeks of chemoradiation for tonsillar SCC last year. He’d do a quick 5 minute sweep of my mouth and then ‘that’ll be £50 please’. So I recently joined up with a new one who has been revelatory. I wish I’d done it years ago. 

Basically he had a good look at my mouth and throat for signs of anything sinister and then spent half an hour showing me my teeth and, more importantly, gums with a camera and screen and graded the state of my gums as 3 on a scale of 0-4 (with 4 being irretrievable). I’d had absolutely no idea! Needless to say this shocked me.

However he said it was totally retrievable with a regime of proper brushing with a very soft brush and using interdental brushes every morning before breakfast. (He doesn’t rate flossing.) He gave me 6 different sized packs to try out, taught me how to use them properly and told me to come back in 6 weeks so he could reassess them. So I now have a new morning regime of brushing between all of my teeth using the interdental brushes (which you can reuse) getting it down to 4 sizes - green, yellow, blue and red. I then clean my teeth and gums thoroughly with a very soft brush before breakfast. It all takes about 10 minutes. 

I went back after 6 weeks and, apart from my top right quarter (they grade your mouth in quarters), they had all improved by at least 1 point in that short time.  He said it’s common for it to be worst in the top teeth of your dominant hand so showed me how to pay more attention up there. He expects them to return to normal and over time if I keep it up. 

Apologies if I’m teaching any proverbial grandmas to suck eggs, but he said this sort of creeping gum disease is the most common cause of tooth loss as we get older. (I’m 65.)  Much more so than decay. Basically the gum recedes to the point that the tooth becomes loose and eventually falls out. 

The interdental brushes I use are made by TePe and are meant to be the best. I use each set of 4 colours for one week and just rinse them after each use, like I would a normal tooth brush. 

Hope this helps. M

Hi Markel yes deffo inter dental brushes I’ve used them for year. I do use water pic as I’ve 2 teeth very close together and the thinnest te pe brush won’t get in there. Glad you’ve got a good  dentist.we’ve had ours over 20 years she’s worth her weight in gold  

Hazel xx

MarkEL said:

The interdental brushes I use are made by TePe and are meant to be the best.

Yes same here. Been using interdental brushes since treatment finished. My gums are all 0. When I go to the hygienist she doesnothing but put on a varnish. Like you say, brushing before breakfast is a must. It takes away all the overnight plaque. 

Thanks for that Dani. I’ve changed the scale to 0-4. Makes better sense

Thank you for your very helpful replies. I think that I will hold off on the Waterpik until I have spoken to the MaxFax people at my next appointment. I am now 1 year post treatment and my mouth is still quite sensitive. My confidence in my dentist was undermined when they failed to detect my cancer when treating me for an infection in April 2021 although I am still with them. I am, like many people now, having to pay for my dentistry as they all seem to have gone private. I have used to the interdental brushes however will now try the TePe ones as suggested and will ask about the grading of my gums which I was unaware of.

Thanks again.

- John

T4N2cM0 diagnosed June 2021

Hi Mark

Thanks. Might look into this.

I've just been using electric toothbrush with soft head and the duraphat. I have a soft brush in a kit for after lunch at work.

Gums were classed as 0 yesterday, but I think they're receding a bit. No plaque though, he's told me to limit brushing to 3 times a day as I was doing 4. I keep a mirror handy if I am out as I find food sticks these days. Someone gad suggested a te pe brush. 

Gill