Radiation and dental care

[Betsy]

Hello,

I'll be having radiosurgery using the Varian Trilogy system in a couple weeks.  On the Varian website, they have a section about dealing with side effects from radiation, and it said that radiation treatment can increase the chance of getting cavities.  The section seems to be written for cancer patients who have multiple sessions, but I'm rather fond of my teeth so I thought I'd check it out.

I called my dentist who recommended a flouride treatment prior to radiosurgery and a check-up 3 months afterward.  Apparently this was a bigger issue years ago when radiation treatments were more powerful and less accurate than they are today.  I left a message for the radiation doc too, and will be interested to see what he says.

In the meantime, for those of you who have had the single-shot radiation, were you advised to do anything special with regard to your teeth?  If not, have you noticed an increase in cavities since treatment?

For those who are interested, here's the link to Varian's website:  http://www.varian.com/pinf/rdt054-6.html

Thanks,

Betsy

[ppearl214]

Hi Betsy,

A timely post for me..... now almost 1-1/2 yrs post-cyberknife (5 day treatments, 30Gy total), I had the same discussions with my dental hygenist and dentist.  Seems the saliva production is slightly off and recommended floride rinses as home (USA based ACT rinse, as long as there is no alcohol).  I'm now doing the rinse 2x/daily to help with the floride treatments and hoping saliva production improves over time.  No increase in cavities but work hard on my teeth (brushing, flossing, floride rinse, etc) to help make sure everything is in check.

Phyl

[Betsy]

Well, the consensus seems to be that "radiation cavities" are a reality, but it doesn't affect everyone the same way.  Of course!  Why do I keep expecting a definite answer?   It would be nice to have one solid answer in this crazy AN tornado!!

My dentist, who is one of  my favorite people in addition to being a great dentist, has treated many patients who have had radiation treatment, although I'm the first one with an AN.  Even though the docs say it's not necessary, and my dental insurance says they  won't pay for it, they're MY teeth and I'm not taking any chances.  I was fitted this morning for a custom mold to apply prescription strength flouride twice a day for the week before radiosurgery until a week after.  Maybe I'm a sucker, but at least I'll be a sucker with a good smile!

Phyl, my dentist did say that there can be changes in the saliva as well which would make our mouths more hospitable to plaque.  Hope your spit is back up to speed soon!

Betsy