Answer: When it is chemo/radiation induced gum disease.
I thought it peculiar that this canker sore just didn't seem to heal and go away. But it didn't really hurt, so I ignored it. Then I took a look at it in the mirror after brushing my teeth, and my stomach flipped. I can see the root of my tooth exposed. Yuck. And scary.
My first thought, of course, was fear that I have developed mouth cancer. I panic. The clinic where I have been going for my dental needs will not be equipped to handle that kind of problem. Where to go? Who has that kind of expertise and is taking new patients, especially ones with problems of this magnitude? I pray about it. I need guidance.
I am praying about it on the way to work, and notice for the first time that there is a dentist's office in a blue house just around the corner from my apartment. It looks kind of ritzy. But something inside (can it be the Holy Spirit?) urges me to stop and ask.
Inside, the building is inviting, cozy, well appointed. I approach the receptionist and quietly explain my situation, my angst. She hears my desperation, and sets me up for a consultation that afternoon. I find myself seated in an examination room, butterflies swirling in my stomach, my head screaming panic. I fight the thoughts. No crossing bridges until we come to them.
He is a kind and thoughtful person, taking the time to hear my story, comment on what I have undergone. He takes digital pictures of my mouth sore to send to an oncologist dental expert in San Diego. But he does not keep me dangling. Though he says that of course they will not be able to say for certain unless a biopsy is done, he is 99.99% sure this is not cancer. Rather it is a common side effect of the treatment I have had.
Seems that the bone shrinks, creating gaps between tooth and gum, and no matter how hard I brush, stuff gets stuck in there, and because of the dry mouth caused by the Bexxar, I have little of the natural bacteria fighting stuff that normal saliva provides, so infections develop - like the one I have - and voila! Gum disease.
But there is treatment. He sets me up for the full regimen. A thorough cleaning including cleaning the tooth roots (sounds painful), then fitted for special night time tooth guards that are coated with the appropriate anti bacterial substances to do the work that my saliva would have done. And of course, if that doesn't work, there are other options.
Whew! While I am not thrilled to have gum disease, I am relieved - SO RELIEVED - that this is not the start of another outbreak of cancer. Don't even think about what that would have meant. OK. I can resume breathing.
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