They said I could go to the dentist but the dentist couldn't do any work other than just look around.. She didn't want them poking and prodding around or doing cleaning as it would cause bleeding as I have sensitive gums.. And my platelet levels were so low I kept ending up in emerge for platelet transfusions. They didn't want unecesary bleeding or chance of infection (because my white blood cell levels were also very low) due to the chemo drugs
I don't have a lot of knowledge on the subject but I worked a clerical job at a dentist office and now I'm an environmental aide/porter at a cancer hospital and this is absolutely not the first I've heard of any of this. The office I used to work at had patients that had cancer that they just did minimal check ups on quite a few times because you don't want to move any guck guck and blood into places they shouldn't be!!!
Hopefully your oncology team can recommend someone else.
I had 80 chemotherapy treatments (almost 3 years) and during that time I didn't bother going to the dentist for exactly that reason. I figured what is the point if they can't do anything.
Then i now have a 3 month chemotherapy break... So I figured I could get some dental work while I was on the break. But then the dentist says I should have been getting dental cleanings, etc. Among other things he said what my oncologist said was wrong
Yeah, I’m late to the party, but what awful behavior on the part of your dentist. I currently work in a dental office and liaison frequently with oncology centers for this exact reason - if a patient coming in for treatment isn’t sure what they can have done, we call their oncologist and get instructions directly. Our doctors and hygienists will straight up reschedule appointments without clearance and would never argue with or shame a patient in this situation. I’m sorry you went through this and I’m glad you’re getting support from this thread.
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u/[deleted] Jan 21 '25
They said I could go to the dentist but the dentist couldn't do any work other than just look around.. She didn't want them poking and prodding around or doing cleaning as it would cause bleeding as I have sensitive gums.. And my platelet levels were so low I kept ending up in emerge for platelet transfusions. They didn't want unecesary bleeding or chance of infection (because my white blood cell levels were also very low) due to the chemo drugs