AFTER CANCER: STAYING IN MEDICAL SYSTEM: DENTAL EXAM. MORE DOCTORS AND TESTS.
Do I Need a Dental Exam?
If you received radiation that affected your mouth or if you received certain chemotherapy regimens, you need to pay extra attention to the care of your teeth and gums. It is best to have an exam before your cancer treatments in order to find and treat any dental problems. After completing your cancer treatments, it is important to have another thorough dental evaluation and an exam every three to four months for a few years. This is because you are at increased risk of tooth decay, which can be prevented with good daily hygiene and frequent professional evaluation and treatment.
If you received radiation to your jawbone, you have extra reason to be meticulous about the care of your teeth. Extracting teeth because of decay or infection increases the risk of a serious complication called osteoradionecrosis.
When Do I Resume My Routine Non-Cancer-Related Medical Care?
Set up an appointment to see your general doctor in the month or two after the end of your cancer treatment. This allows your doctor to be familiar with all the changes that have taken place and with your new baseline. Your doctor can focus on all the non-cancer-related health issues.
Can I Wait a While before Getting Involved with More Doctors and, Possibly, More Tests?
After cancer treatment is completed, people tend to be weary of the expense, inconvenience, anxiety, and discomforts of checkups. However, in general, the sooner you go the better. It is important that any new noncancerous conditions be diagnosed and evaluated, in order to
• prevent complications from the problem
• promote healing and recovery from your cancer
• help you feel better
• prevent symptoms or problems that can make you or your doctor worry about your cancer when, in fact, the symptoms or problems are due to a new, noncancerous condition.
One middle-aged woman, while recovering uneventfully from treatment for a muscle tumor, went for her routine annual mammogram. She was found to have a tiny breast cancer. At first she was overwhelmed. After getting through the shock and anger, she was glad that she had proceeded with her mammogram. The breast cancer was there whether she screened for it or not. By getting her mammogram as scheduled, it was diagnosed while small enough to be cured without chemotherapy. Delaying the mammogram, and thus her diagnosis, would have made her recovery from the muscle tumor easier but have threatened her overall health and her life. A six-month wait might have given it time to spread to the lymph nodes, thus requiring chemotherapy for any chance of cure.
An elderly man who was recovering from treatment for melanoma was reluctant to have his colon checked for cancer. He did not have any increased risk of colon cancer and was symptom-free, but he was feeling particularly vulnerable. Proceeding with his colon evaluation and getting a good report was the best medicine in the world for him.
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