A Light at The End of The Tunnel....... Dental.

Well folks, there is a light at the end of this tunnel. And it took more time than expected to get some helpful information. We (UCAAN) wanted to use my experience as a guinea pig, to see how difficult it would be for a survivor to get this information, and what was needed to get to this point. Let me just say, that it shouldn't be this difficult for a cancer survivor to find these resources! We (UCAAN) were thrown in so many directions and dead ends before we found out anything helpful.



My case is unique- because I have had cancer and have so many side effects, many dentists wouldn't do IV Sedation on me, because they feared that they would have to intubate me and would be unable to. For me, I need to be sedated for dental work due to high anxiety and stress levels that being awake causes me. Now, the search alone for a dentist that no only offers general anesthesia, but takes Medi-Cal is almost impossible to find. I contacted the local hospitals for information- with no luck, the Ventura County/Santa Barbara County Dental Associations, the Medi-Cal website, local sedation dentists, etc. Some of them had information that was out-dated about places that did dental work still for emergency situations and take Medi-Cal. But they all proved to be incorrect. So, when will things like this be easier for us to get to? Does every cancer survivor with a situation similar to mine have to deal with all the red tape, and endless calling before they get a piece of good news? NO! We at UCAAN are working hard to get this information to you!



So, the journey to USC was a long and complicating one, but 2 hours after we left Thousand Oaks, we were able to find the USC Norris Dental Science Center. In order to see the oral surgery department, you MUST have a referral from a dentist with their recommendations of which teeth need work or need to be extracted. You MUST get a consultation from USC prior to any surgery. So you know, the Consult cost s $55-85, and the hours on their website are not correct. The USC Oral Surgery Office is open from 9am-11:30am (lunch from 11:30am to 12:30pm) & 12:30pm-3pm. Their contact number is (213) 740-1583 And they do accept Denti-Cal. If you call them to schedule a consult, they may be booked many months in advance, and the best advice I can give you is what the young woman on the phone told me. She suggested I come down one day at 8:30am and wait all day in the case that they get a cancellation. This is what we did today and it worked in our favor. We got there at 9:45am, and were done at 12:30pm! YAY!!! Now, to wait for them to schedule me for my extraction surgery under GA (General Anesthesia- which is known as conscious sedation- where you are not intubated for the surgery) this is the most common way, and in my opinion better than nitrous oxide (laughing gas). The GA will not be covered by Medi-Cal, and you will need to know the cost in advance: $330 for the sedation (GA), stronger sedation with an anesthesiologist is much more and is $550. These are costs that you should be well aware of. Amazing how the chemotherapy and radiation save our lives, but in the long run they cause more problems, many of which are not covered by our insurance - interesting!!!



And unless your dental x-rays that you bring to them are panoramic x-rays, there's no sense in bringing them- because they will have you get your x-ray with them. With a very new-age super cool x-ray machine that circles your head and takes an awesome PANORAMIC VIEW of your teeth for them. Keep in mind this is a dental school and the students that work there are awesome! :) And their professors/main dentists are very thorough.



Since I am on coumadin (Warfarin- Blood Thinner) for my DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis) I had last March 2010, I have to be off Coumadin for 5 days, and get my INR (International Normalized Ratio) tested the day prior to my dental surgery. I am hoping to have this dental work done and have these teeth extracted next Wednesday. Will keep you posted. And I hope that this information has helped you!

:)

The USC School of Dentistry website for Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery is: http://dentistry.usc.edu/oms.aspx



Dental Issues are no Fun, even after all we have been through.... right? But UCAAN is here to investigate and find the places where UCAAN find help!! YAY!