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lower jaw discomfort after radiation
I'm post 35 radiation treatments by 7 months and am recovering slowly, with the common side effects. I just recently had a wisdom tooth try to emerge. I'm 75 and that was not something I was expecting. Has anyone had issues with odd activity in their jaw (wisdom teeth, bone spurs, etc.)?
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Hi Steve and welcome. I as well as many have had teeth and gum issues due to radiation. Mine were so bad I had my left mandible replaced, twenty years after radiation.
Two years out should give you a good indication of what if any issues you may have ongoing. In the meantime you are still in the recovery stage from radiation. Just keep your dentist informed and perhaps your oncologist, particularly if the oncologist has head and neck treatment experience other than just you. I know that last bit sounds odd but it is more common than we would expect. Welcome to surviving cancer.
Wow, you've been through a lot. Thanks for sharing.
I have a wisdom tooth trying to come up after being dormant all my life. Did you have or have you heard of people experiencing that?
@fanortner I think the radiation can have profound effects on oral and dental health. It doesn’t surprise me a wisdom tooth decided to make a breakthrough. Likely however the tooth didn’t move or push. The tissue around it dissolved and exposed it. The teeth in front of it lost some gum support with a result of pressure, which had always been there, now revealed. That’s of course me theory based upon my own experience as well as others in this forum.
Hopefully you have a better time of it. And time will tell. My main issues didn’t begin until I was about five years out of radiotherapy. I traveled the world for work as an engineer and wasn’t able to be as attentive to my oral health as one should.