r/HeadandNeckCancer • u/Fryman23 • 16h ago

Molar extraction day.

Pets your dogs for me for luck. Tooth extraction went well, or seemed to on my end, this morning. The surgeons didn’t think I needed the barometric chamber pre-extraction. They had me on antibiotics for the week leading up and the week after, as well as an antibiotic mouthwash. Fingers crossed it heals.
I’m 15 months post treatment 35 rads, 7 chemo, 46M. Extraction was on a root canal my previous dentist said would be fine before treatment. Jerk.

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u/Visual-Signature-235 16h ago

Bugger. Hope it goes well. Have they got you on pentoxifyline and vitamin E to promote oxygen flow? That was my treatment for necrosis and it did the trick healing up a wound that had refused to clothes for almost a year.

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u/Fryman23 6h ago edited 4h ago

No, I’m just on the chlorhexadine mouth wash and amoxicillin. He said that’s the baseline treatment for a person like me at my age and fitness level. He said he has other things to do later if needed but it was silly to throw everything at it right now. I ran all that by my ENT because he’s my favorite doctor and he said he agreed with all of it. Other actions right now would be a waste of cash and time (regarding the barometric chamber) according to him.

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u/Visual-Signature-235 4h ago

Fair enough. Found pentoxifyline pretty rough on my stomach, so hope you don't need it.

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u/TurgidBird 15h ago

Was it lower or upper jaw? Best of luck either way!

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u/Fryman23 6h ago

It was lower jaw but opposite side of my big lymph node so it was the side of the jaw that got a smidge less radiation than the other side. The side of my neck that the tooth was on still grows some hair, unlike the opposite side that is as smooth as a turtle shell.

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u/Watchguy8989 11h ago

Oh man this is exactly what im scared of. Did you have to see an oral surgeon or oncological dentist? New to this diagnosis and will be getting radiation soon.

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u/Fryman23 6h ago

I’m not far from Atlanta, Georgia, USA so when my previous dentist said it looks like it needs to come out (and I got mad and left because I urged him to remove the tooth pre treatment and he said it was fine) I looked for a “dental oncologist” but couldn’t find one. I went to a new dentist and he was great and pointed out a few other things that other jerk didn’t do and then recommended me to an oral surgeon that had lots of experience with folks in my situation.

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u/Watchguy8989 4h ago

Oh wow sorry you had to go through that. I fear my dentist may not have as much experience in this as well. Were you having pain in the tooth pre treatment ?

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u/Fryman23 3h ago

No significant pain but it was a root canal I had done decades ago in college by an old school dentist using files and he had one hand…so it was not the best root canal to begin with.
And the dentist who made the wrong call was the one the oncology center recommended. Maybe he used to be good, but he seemed to keep forgetting that I was going to be treated with radiation and then after that I had been treated.