Went to Dentist yesterday with toothache, thinking it was maybe root canal problems as horrible pain right upper jaw, she found nothing wrong with the tooth and took this Xray, then she said I need to go to hospital and show this Xray without explaining what problem she saw. I see a shadow near nose.
Any ideas?
Let us know what they say at the hospital.
I see that too. Does she know you're a cancer patient with bone metastases? Because I would think such artifacts have to be evaluated relative to previous scans and x-rays.
IMHO, everything should be explained to the patient in some detail. I still have a decent memory and carry around my medical history and list of prescriptions largely in my head. Very useful for sudden trips to the ER. I've had to spell abiraterone for multiple doctors. You need to know these things so you can communicate them to other doctors.
It could just be because of my condition she doesn't want to do any treatment on me. She does know my condition as I told her. I did have jaw reconstruction surgery 20 years ago, it's been something troubling me about my Cancer that my bones may be more vulnerable, maybe I'm just over reacting.
All our medical data is electronically stored, so it can be accessed anywhere by anyone with authority, makes it safe as things like prescriptions are all done electronically and I just have to produce my id card for scanning.
Must be different in Europe. There's so much concern about patient privacy here. My MO had trouble viewing my latest scan over the internet. I had to physically take a disc to his office. CD-Roms feel almost as anachronistic as floppies.
It's very secure)Estonia is the most digitally advanced country in the world), nobody can view any personal data without authority, every access is recorded-tracked.
I just had my full panoramic full mouth x-ray done last Thursday , have it in my hand now. Yours doesn’t look remarkably different in any obviously dramatic way.
Your next step would be a referral to an oral surgeon for a more informed review of your x-rays. You do have two upper jaw markers showing from the software, dunno what those mean ...
Great teeth btw ... mine are breaking pieces off from the Zometa treatments.
Peace brother ✌️
Those “ markers “ are likely interspersed hardware from your oral surgery. I have occasional tooth aches under rear lower molars of teeth that have root canals and caps. Mine are from a mouth full of small mets half the size of a grain of rice. The pain comes and goes, my daily pain management deals with that nicely.
There's several dark spots above your upper incisors and two vertical shadows in your lower jaw in line with the 2nd pre-molar on both sides. Are you having any bone pain in that area? I would ask your Dr about it.
You need expertise to make this call. One hec of a jaw line. Now I’m going to be waiting for you to tell me what an expert says? There is Nothing like waiting on pins and needles . I’ve got osteopenia and now I’m on prolia. Almost five years of adt plus I had rt. First went the muscle now the joints and teeth . I’m interested .Please let me know what you find out ? Good luck 😂Scott
I’m just a lurker now, having lost my Dad to PCa a year and a half ago, and certainly don’t know how to read x-rays, and certainly don’t want to cause you any worries. But in the interest of education, I Googled prostate bone mets and learned that they’re usually “osteoblastic” and show up as increased opacity on x-rays. What catches my attention on your x-ray is the roundish whitish area on the viewer’s left, above the upper teeth near the nostril. It’s asymmetrical with the other side.
BUT you mentioned previous reconstructive surgery. There’s a marker or metal object adjacent to the round white area, so maybe that area is an artifact from your surgery.
I guess I understand why the dental office didn’t tell you more. If they saw something questionable, it might not be within their expertise domain to explain it. But on a psychological level, I think it’s awful. Wondering and worrying is worse than knowing.
I hope this turns out to be nothing, and if not nothing, then something that’s easily treatable.
Yes, on the nasal concha??? Should get this checked right away.
A dentist commented subsequently and thought that the area might be a polyp or benign bone growth. Fortunately OP will get further x-rays.
Good luck, I hope its nothing.
I am not qualified to interpret panoramic radiograms. I doubt that many in this forum are qualified. I understand your need for guidance and answers but, sorry, I have to question why you would choose this group for highly technical advice.
Sorry I just saw this. I am a dentist. You should know that panoramic x-rays are poor at making out details near the midline. You get more coverage than intraoral films, but generally poorer detail. I'll tell you what I see.
1) You have some kind of metallic connectors on each side of your maxilla, and 2 more further forward just ahead of your maxillary sinuses and behind your nose. I see you mentioned you'd had "reconstructive" surgery. Was this due to an accident, or did you have orthognathic surgery to correct a deformity? In any case, I see no problem here. I assume you must have information about these should you have an mri.
2) I don't consider myself qualified to comment on your nasal cavity, but you appear to have a growth in your right nasal cavity. It could represent overgrowth of bone, or even polyp--again, I can't make a judgment, but it does not look like cancer to me.
3) Again, you'd have far better resolution with intraoral (periapical) radiographs. But both your upper second molars appear badly decayed; it's not clear whether your upper first molars are restored with resin. There may be decay there too. In my opinion, your upper first molars should be crowned. Your upper second molars are scarcely contacting anything in your lower jaw. You may want to consider just extracting the upper second molars and concentrate on making sure you keep your first molars.
I have no idea why your dentist is concerned, and would be curious to find out. And you shouldn't have to guess.
They surgery was to correct a deformity. Thanks for your input, it's been very helpful.
I just want to stress again that areas near the midline are not well-visualized on a pan. You have enough hardware up there that it could be related to the growth you see in the nasal cavity. I also believe that if your dentist thinks this feature is of concern, she should have steered you to an ENT specialist, not a hospital. Panoramic x-rays to my knowledge are only really used by dentists; they would not be used by an ENT specialist to evaluate for something in your nasal cavity. The panoramic would show sinus polyps far better--again, because they wouldn't be so close to the midline. My GUESS (and only a guess) is that this represents some kind of polyp. There is no harm getting another set of eyes on this, but I'd be very surprised if this represents any kind of malignancy.
Please let me know how you make out, and feel free to PM me if you wish.
It may or not be connected but the whole inside of my mouth is sore, gums, but mostly inside of cheek linings and my wife says my face is swollen slightly. I'm only taking Opioids for pain, ADT finished in Nov (subcapsular orchiectomy), Chemo finished last May.
Those decayed teeth might explain at least some of this.
I see my pain specialist on 4th Feb, I will wait, show and talk with her about this Xray and let her decide and she can then refer me to the correct dept. I have full body PET scans from before and after Chemo so they can compare those scans.
I don't know if your oncologist has any objections to addressing the dental issue, but you might try to expedite matters by having the oncologist consult with your dentist and find out if there is any reason not to take care of those teeth promptly. Good luck!
How do you cope with the waiting?
I Feel Great, What's Wrong With Me?
How often do you see your MO in a year? Just curious.
Getting an appointment with a renown oncologist in Chicago=Mission impossible. Is this normal?
How do you know if chemo is working?
