DENTAL WORK W/ CHEMO

neeliecar

DENTAL WORK W/ CHEMO

neeliecar

Has anyone had their oncologist recommend having all fillings replaced before chemo.  One of my friends had to do that before she started chemo.  I start chemo this week (TC) and he never said anything about replacing fillings.  Also can dental work be done while doing chemo.  I am having a problem with a tooth that has had a root canal and I am going to a specialist tomorrow but there may need to be more work done.  Can this be done during chemo?   I guess I can ask them tomorrow but I just wanted to know if anyone else has ever come across this?  Thanks for any help you can give me. Eileen Carnein

Anonymous

I've never heard anything about fillings being replaced before chemo.

My onc did tell me not to have any dental work done during chemo unless it was a true emergency. And if there was a true emergency I had to let him know first before having anything done.

The onc also suggested I have a cleaning before I started chemo. My dentist gave me a special Rx flouride paste to use during chemo to lessen the chances of cavities.

Jen44

My oncologist told me the same as 182jem.  She told me there is too big of a risk of bacteria getting in your blood stream when dental work is done and that is why it shouldn't be done during chemo.  If you are having a real problem I would talk to your onc before having anything done.  They may need to put you on an antibiotic or something as precaution.  I wouldn't ignore your tooth problem, but I would definitely let your onc know.  I also have never heard of having your fillings removed.  I talked to a couple of other people that have been through chemo and they looked at me like I had three heads.  I am not sure why your friend was told to do that.  If you are uncertain ask your onc about that as well.  One thing I have learned is if you have questions ask them.  There are no unimportant questions when you are going through something like this.  Take care and I hope all goes well with your tooth and chemo. 

JoeyAnn

I also have never heard of having fillings removed/replaced prior to chemo.  However, I was scheduled for dental work (root canal) when I found out about my dx.  Called my dentist, because I didn't think I'd be up to having anything done after surgery, etc.  He was wonderful, they worked me in over a lunch hour, fixed what needed to be fixed, and told me what could wait.  He also said to contact him if I had problems with dry mouth or mouth sores because he could give me "trays" to put on my teeth to help with the dry mouth.  Also said that dry mouth can cause extreme tooth decay, so it was important to treat the dry mouth and not let it linger.  I was able to get through the dry mouth with biotene toothpaste and oasis mouth wash, but it was nice to know he was knowledgable if I needed more.

He didn't say dental work couldn't be done during chemo, but agreed that it was best to avoid it, if possible, and wait until blood counts, etc. were better.  My chemo is done as of October, and I'm scheduled to go in for a cleaning in a couple of weeks.  Again, he agreed that the cleaning could wait until chemo was done, as long as I wasn't having problems.

I take a pre-med before going to the dentist.  The pre-med is a single high dose of antibiotics, just in case the tooth cleaning stirs up any bad bacteria that could get into the blood stream.  I've done this for a while, because I had rheumatic fever as a child -- that fact makes me a higher risk for developing an infection from the junk they scrape up in my mouth (yuck!) but I would bet that during chemo and maybe even after, you'd be a prime candidate for taking a pre-med also.  It would be important to talk to the onc and the dentist about whether this is appropriate and which antibiotic you should take.

FYI -- Since my dx, the dentist's sister was also dx'd but is doing good at this time.  And all of the girls in the office have gotten their mammograms (one was sent back for a bio, don't know the results yet).  Anyway, I can't say enough good things about how wonderful they were to me, and how happy I was that they got themselves checked out with mammos also.