A 29 year old woman in Scotland began to experience pain in her mouth in September 2020 and also felt a pea-sized lump on her jawline. She thought the pain and problems were due to not having wisdom teeth extracted and that an infection had developed. She later had four wisdom teeth extracted Glasgow Dental Hospital in Glasgow, Scotland, and then spent 12 months on antibiotics.
After the wisdom teeth were removed she continued to have a swollen gland or lymph node and she continued to feel something was not quite right. In January 2021, he went in for a biopsy and CT scan. Four days after these tests were done she was told she had a cancerous lump and was diagnosed with osteosarcoma cancer. She started chemotherpay in early March 2021. She later had to have bone reconstruction, skin grafts and her mouth tissue rebuilt. Part of the lower leg bone – the fibula – had to be taken out and put in place to rebuild her jaw. The doctors feel the cancer is curable but the treatment was long lasting for many many months.
The woman of course is a bit upset that it took over 3 months after she began to have pain before it was found out that she had cancer. The wisdom tooth surgery did not end up being related to the cancer. When she was examined by he dentist and before the wisdom teeth were extarcted, there was an opportunity to look for cancer but this was apparently missed or not done.
This woman’s story seems to make it seem that one should be vigilent if electing to retain healthy impacted wisdom teeth. When one gets older they may mistake pain in the mouth/jaw region as coming from wisdom teeth when the cause may be something else. One may jump to the conclusion that the wisdom teeth are the culprit and this can miss the real cause. When cancer and other diseases are detected and diagnosed early, outcomes can be better. Therefore, wisdom teeth being kept may led to potentially a higher likelyhood of missing cancer and other diseases of the mouth and jaw.
This woman’s story also helps to highlight the impact that patient’s have on their own treatment path. There appears to be an overfocus on the belief that the wisdom teeth caused an infection which lead to the pain and mouth issues the woman experience. It was the woman’s own persistent in her treatment and continuing to go to seek treatment wen her symptoms were not resolving with the antiobitics that later led to finding the true source of her pain and problems which was cancer. If one just sits at home and sees one doctor and symptoms don’t improve one has to act or could suffer the consequences. Misdiagnosis does happen in the medical world and certainly among dental patients as well.
Source:
Stephen Houston, “Scots woman devastated as toothache turns out to be cancer,” March 27, 2021. https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/devastated-scots-woman-urges-people-23804083