99% of my dentist colleagues have no idea what a "dental oncologist" does, even though this was my full-time fellowship training after hospital residency.
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where I completed Dental Oncology training within the Dept. of Surgery, was an incredible place. What an honor to be given exposure to so-many dozens of different cancers and their relevance to the mouth and the craniofacial complex... I am forever grateful for that training.
I'm also grateful for opportunities to restore smiles in cancer survivors who completed chemo, radiation, surgery recently, months prior, or even decades ago.
So many of them quietly struggle with missing teeth, missing sections of the jaw, difficulty swallowing and speaking, lack of saliva... #xerostomia #trismus #dysguesia #occlusaldisease #tmj
Even more of them face oral complications of otherwise routine dental treatment, such as #osteonecrosis of the jaw and #osteoradionecrosis, 2 topics that I'm so passionate about.
That is why I have written about the topic of dental oncology before, and I will continue to do so in the future. I am more thankful for these patients than they will ever be of me. That is the truth.
I am thankful for groups like Head and Neck Cancer Alliance, Support For People With Oral And Head And Neck Cancer (SPOHNC), MA Oncology Patients, Survivors and Supporters (MOPSS), Eisai US and various others who advocate for the important needs of cancer patients and their oral health.
#dentaloncology
#oraloncology
#oncologicstomatology
#dentalimplants
#oralrehabilitation
#fullmouthreconstruction
In the next episode of the Made of More YouTube series, you'll hear from dental oncologist Dr. Ryan Lee as he explains how people living with head and neck cancer (HNC) may interact with a dentist throughout their HNC journey. Click here to watch the full episode with Dr. Lee: https://bit.ly/3tKHlQp
#MoreThanHNC #headandneckcancer #ad #hnc #hnca #headandneck