I had cancer of the hard / soft pallet about 6 years ago.

This is how I was diagnosed:

It started as a patch on the roof of my mouth, the kind you get if you eat too many boiled sweets The patch was about a couple of mm square in size.

I went to the dentist, he gave me antibiotics. They did nothing so he gave me some more. They also did nothing. He said he hadn't a clue what it was and would refer me to the hospital.

I waited on the waiting list for 6 months. Eventually, my dentist rang them and had my appointment changed to 'urgent' as the patch was growing rapidly. :banghead:

I got an appointment and was told I had a cyst. I was then given an appointment to come back in 3 months and have it removed.

I rang them after 2 months to say it was growing onto the soft part of my mouth and felt like it was into my throat. I went back 2 weeks later and had a biopsy.

2 weeks later, the results were back and the consultant told me I had a fast growing cancer in my mouth. He told me he hadn't seen anything like this for 15 years and that he would have to operate immediately.

4 days later I had an operation and then 2 months later 16 days of radiotherapy.

This whole process took well over a year.

When I read other people's stories they all seem to have been diagnosed quickly. Was I just unlucky or has there been some kind of development or knowledge drive recently?

I know how much it grew in that time and I'm sure that it would have taken less measures to cure it had it been done sooner. Also, the cancer developed whlist I was pregnant - are there any links between the two?

Li�n :coffee:

No it took months of doctors appointment and Dentist before I was diagnosed.

Paul

Tell you what people, I think an awful lot depends on where you live.

Personally, after trying anti-biotics and a couple of other thing which didn't work he decided to refer me to the hospital in Halifax.

Purely by chance I visited my dentist, Braddord based. I was admitted to hospital, in Bradford, within 2 weeks.

My appointment for Halifax arrived at home the day I was undergoing surgery in Bradford. It was for about 3 week later, in fact just about the time I was being discharged from hospital.

Lucky or what?

Hi Pikeman

Lucky!

It depends on the Maxillo-Facial Unit you are referred to. At Halifax and Huddersfield, suspected mouth cancers are referred on to Bradford for further investigation and treatment. So you saved time that way . You also saved time, because you were referred to a centre with maxillofacial surgeons with an interest in oral cancers and were fast-tracked in line with the Govt.'s target of minimum of 2 week wait for suspected cancer patients to be seen .

It is getting better all around. There is a national campaign each year now to increase Mouth Cancer Awareness amongst the public and to alert the professionals (dentists and doctors and pharmicists) so that referrals are made earlier. This does put a strain on the MFUs as more cases are referred than are cancers.

See of Dr Coyle's explanation of why delays still occur. There has been improvement but there is more to be done.

Best wishes

Vinod :coffee:

Hello Li�n, and welcome.

There isn't a link between pregnancy and mouth cancer, thank goodness!

Teeth are worth hanging on to :soapbox: , if they are in good shape as you can eat better with them. Radiotherapy affects the salivary glands and the decreased saliva increases the risk of the remaining teeth decaying. Also extractions of teeth in irradiated jawbone can result in complications with healing. Hence the dual-need for preventive measures. But if the teeth are causing pain and treatment is complicated and the risk from extraction acceptable, the teeth are extracted.

With regard to your problem with swallowing , please see a restorative dentistry consultant to see if you can be helped with a 'plate' to restore the defect left by the surgery. By creating a seal between the mouth and nose, it allows easier swallowing by keeping the food and drink from going up into the nasal passages that lie above the roof of the mouth .

Best wishes

Vinod :coffee:

Hi again

My teeth aren't worth hanging on to... they are painful. I take painkillers around the clock because they hurt. I wake up every night when the painkillers run out. All food and drink hurts. :help:

I went again last week and they have decided to take out one more that has become unsalvagable in the last 4 weeks since the last one was taken out. I don't know why thet don't just take the other 3 out at the sme time! One of the others is very painful too. It's making me really depressed and tired - I don't think the painkillers are doing me much good either. :worried:

3 teeth doesn't give you much to chew with so I have to use my front teeth anyway! I just think that the shape they are in, the soreness I get from them and the lack of use they are it would be more beneficial to take the rest out at the same time.

Dentures may not feel the same, but at least I would be able to eat properly and not have to avoid eating out to save embarassment. :sigh:



This is a pic of the last tooth I had out - as you can see, it wasn't nice

HI I have that pleasure to come. My teeth are rotten after the Radiotherapy (which buggered my voice as well) a few in th front have broke off but they are reluctant to take teeth out as I may get infection in the bone. Paul

Hello Li�n

The picture shows the classic brown-black 'radiation' caries around the neck of this upper molar tooth, but that wouldn't have caused the pain, I think. The specks of calculus on the 'clean' looking root and the furcation area indicate you had advanced periodontal (gum) disease at the tooth. (Clean-looking because of loss of tissue attachment owing to bone loss and pocket formation!) The gum infection could have affected the nerve in the tooth from the root-end causing an abcess (swelling) or pulpitis (toothache).

I suspect the other teeth are similarly affected. If so, take them out. An upper complete denture has a high rate of being worn successfully. Strategic lower teeth are often worth hanging on to for anchorage of the denture.

Best wishes

Vinod :coffee:

Thanks for that - It's nice to see that I'm not the only one thinks they are worth taking out!

The bottom ones are fine - just the top back ones. My front 6 teeth are also shiny and white... just the remaining upper back 4. It just seem to me that within the near future (within the next 6 months at the most) they will all end up with the same fate, so it seems wise to get them all out now and let my gums heal ready to accept dentures.

The last registrar I was was adamant that they didn't need removing. He just said to visit my dentist. Would you recomend that I go elsewhere for an opinion from another dentist? I don't think that he will remove them without this, even though I've told him they are sore.

Hi Li�n

Get another opinion regarding your teeth.

Sometimes teeth appear to be the cause of an ache/soreness but it is actually pain from muscles involved in clenching. But the teeth still get extracted because of misdiagnosis !

So, if you are giving your jaw muscles 'overtime work' through keeping your teeth together, leaning on your jaw (whilst sitting or sleeping), chewing gum, biting your fingernails, etc - STOP these activities. Go on a non-chewy food diet and see if the ache goes away .

Best wishes

Vinod :coffee:

I've been on a soupy diet now for the past 2 months because food touching my teeth is sore. I can get drink past them if I do it in a special way Breathing in cold air hurts my teeth so they must be sensitive. I don't chew gum or nails etc either.

How do I go about getting a second opinion?

Li�n

If your dentist can't help, ask him/her to refer you to a NHS restorative dentistry consultant (periodontist) either in a hospital or dental school. There might be a long wait for an appointment. Otherwise, get a private consultation with a periodontist. (Do a Google search for ''periodontist uk'.) Ring around and ask about the fee - it varies.

Best wishes

Vinod :coffee:

Thanks for your quick reply.

The waiting time for an appointment at my dentist is about 12 weeks - I've had a temp filling in one tooth for 2 months now and I'm not due to have it filled till July! That's why I go to the Oral Surgery at the hospital for probs like this - my consultant said that I could only have extractions done at the hospital so I thought it best to go straight there The only problem there is that I see a different person every time I go, so they never get used to seeing you.

It looks like the next step would be to get a privte consultation then - I'll have a look.

Just an update

I looked for someone to give em a second opinion locally (private) and the only person I could find was the person who gave me the FIRST opinion

I took the advice of the registrar at the hospital and rang my dentist to see if there was anything that could be done to save the teeth. The dentist is fully booked until the end of September

I had the first of the remaining 4 out yesterday, and it looks pretty much similar to the first, with the same markings that you indicated were infection.

I think by the time Spetember comes they will have all had it anyway... and the temp filling I have got in one of them will have been in for 9 months then too

I'm not sure what to do with them next. They are still very sore, but I don't know what the next step is. Do I wait and see the dentist in September, or is there another road I can go down?

Just a thought...

anyone got any good food ideas - I'm fed up of easting the same stuff all the time, but a soupy diet doeasn't give you much variety!