HBOT for Mouth Related Radiation Damage and Infections (Radionecrosis)
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy heals radiation damage to the mouth by growing new blood vessels, bone cells, and causing stem cells to migrate to damaged areas
Are you a Physician? View Provider version of this page
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy heals radiation damage to the mouth by growing new blood vessels, bone cells, and causing stem cells to migrate to damaged areas
Are you a Physician? View Provider version of this page
How Hyperbarics Helps
Save loosened teeth by stabilizing the integrity of the bones that hold your teeth
Regrows healthy bone and gums by stimulating new bone, and tissue cells to grow
Heals gums, skin, the tongue and mouth, so it doesn’t hurt to eat or brush your teeth
Softens fibrous connective tissue, which tightens and makes it difficult to open the mouth
HBOT halts the loss of additional teeth and prevents worsening of the symptoms such as bone loss, infections, skin and gum sores.
Radiation treatments, in addition to killing the cancer, can damage a patient’s adjacent healthy tissues and bones. This damage often appears slowly and can show up many years after the cancer is gone.
The radiation will affect healthy gums and tissues, causing painful sores that can get infected, damage the teeth so they die or break off at the root, or even loosen teeth enough so they fall out. In severe situations, the radiation causes enough bone death in the jaw bones that they can break, requiring extensive surgical intervention and reconstructive surgery.
At Bay Area Hyperbarics, we have seen hundreds of patients with radiation damage. They arrive often having lost teeth, and often having lost too much weight because it is painful to eat. At times, patients experience no pain at all, but their dentist referred them to an oral surgeon because of a tooth problem, and the oral surgeon then referred the patient to us. Oral surgeons often refer patients to us prior to extracting a tooth.
Radiation can also cause fibrotic tissue to form, which hardens and makes it hard for a patient to open their mouth. At times, patients find difficulty even chewing their food.
The good news is that hyperbaric oxygen therapy stops the ongoing damage from radiation. More broadly, HBOT halts the loss of additional teeth and prevents worsening of the symptoms such as bone loss, infections, skin and gum sores. Secondly, oxygen therapy heals by stimulating bone cells to reproduce rapidly. It grows new tiny blood vessels, which feed healthy new cells and tissues. It also causes new stem cells to grow and migrate to damaged areas. When the bone regrows and has enough integrity, it can again anchor the teeth and if a tooth is not dead or too badly damaged, the bone can then nourish and retain the tooth.
Can HBOT Stimulate Cancer? Some people worry that if HBOT stimulates cell reproduction, that it might also do the same with cancer cells? It is a thoughtful concern, which is why there have been many researchers and published studies by oncologists and others, who have show HBOT does not affect cancer cells or tumors. That means that HBOT will not stimulate cancer recurrence or growth. They wrote “the conclusion in both reviews was that HBO did not promote cancer growth, and that the use of HBO in patients with malignancies was considered safe. Target Oncol. 2012 Dec; 7(4): 233–242.
There are some studies that show when treating head and neck radiation injuries with HBOT, there can be a reduction in cancer recurrence. The hypothesis from these researchers is that HBOT repairs the damaged mitochondria in some precancerous and damaged cells. This has not been studied enough for us to know if this is true, and so we await additional studies.
Patient Experiences
Listen to what real patients have to say about their experiences.
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Fiona, 62
HBOT cured a bone infection, regrew her bones and gums and helped her regain her energy.
Fiona, a lively and proud mother of five grown children and an avid gardener, had received radiation many years prior to her arriving at Bay Area Hyperbarics, that emerged as damage to her bone. It caused a severe infection in the bones in the roof of her mouth. In addition, Fiona was concerned about her low energy levels. Before HBOT, Fiona's doctors had tried antibiotics, to no avail. But with HBOT and antibiotics together, it cured the bone infection in her mouth, and healed and regrew her bones and gums. She said she also got back enough energy that she could again garden.
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Howard, 74
Stabilized teeth, healed his mouth sores and increased weight to a healthy level.
Howard had very painful open sores in his mouth as a result of cancer treatment. He had already lost a few teeth, and he and his doctor were concerned that he might lose more. But what worried his son even more was that Howard had lost too much weight. Fortunately for Howard, HBOT stabilized two loose teeth and healed his mouth sores. His ability to chew again then enabled him to eat enough that he returned to a healthy weight.
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Josephina, 61
Radiation damaged circulation in her mouth, threatening her teeth. HBOT saved her teeth.
Josephina, a 61-year-old woman, lived and took care of an elderly friend half the year on the coast of Oregon. She is a quiet spoken, thoughtful woman who had cancer in her mouth 18 years prior to coming in for hyperbaric oxygen therapy. The radiation that was used to treat her cancer many years before was very successful. However, she went to her dentist and complained of her tooth feeling loose. The radiation had started to damage the circulation in her mandible and her gums. Her tooth had died and her dentist wanted to remove it. Her dentist also thought that she had two other teeth that were threatened as well. Josephina was sent to an oral surgeon who diagnosed osteoradionecrosis, which is death of the bone due to radiation injury. The blood vessels in the jaw start to die off due to radiation damage. When this happens the bone can get very fragile and sometimes fracture which creates a much bigger problem including a long and difficult recovery. So to avoid this, and prior to taking out her tooth, her surgeon sent her for hyperbaric treatments. The Marx protocol was used which included 20 treatments prior to removing the tooth to revascularize and thus strengthen the jaw. After removing the tooth Deborah returned for the remaining 10 more session to insure the bone heals up properly. In her case, Josephina was fortunate that the bone was strengthened with hyperbarics prior to more teeth dying. Indeed, she was pleased that she did not lose any further teeth. Two years later she came back to visit and say hello. She still had all the rest of her teeth.
Patients: Get Started with Hyperbarics
It's easy to get started with Hyperbarics. Just follow these simple steps.
1
Give us a call
Did a physician refer you? If so, they can download and fax us back a patient referral form. If not, our medical staff will discuss whether hyperbaric is right for you.
2
We talk with your insurance
Our medical staff contacts Medicare or private insurance to receive authorization and create a plan with you.
3
You get on the road to recovery
We do a medical intake, explain everything you need to know, and get started on your hyperbaric oxygen anti-aging therapy sessions.
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Still looking for answers?
We're here to help. Contact us today to learn more about how hyperbaric oxygen therapy can help you.
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What is Hyperbaric Medicine?
Hyperbaric medicine, also called hyperbaric oxygen therapy or HBOT, is a medical treatment where a patient sits or lies in pressurized chamber and breathes 100% oxygen. In HBOT, oxygen dissolves into the blood, thus raising the oxygen concentration to very high levels.This increased oxygen is a primary building block for tissues, muscle, and bone repair. Among other benefits, it kicks off cell reproduction, heals injuries and infection more rapidly, and decreases inflammation.
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Does HBOT kill cancer cells?
Current research indicates that hyperbaric oxygen does not kill cancer cells. However, there has been a small amount of research indicating that hyperbaric oxygen might reduce the size of certain tumors. Also, there has been a study on mice using hyperbaric oxygen, along with a ketogenic diet, to reduce tumors. Hyperbaric oxygen causes many different healing modalities to kick into gear. Could its effect on strengthening the immune system inhibit the growth of cancer cells? Nobody knows. There are numerous studies conclusively showing that hyperbaric oxygen does not encourage cancer cells or tumors to grow. Some patients claim the hyperbaric oxygen makes them feel a lot more comfortable and functional after chemotherapy and also during healing. Note that some chemotherapy drugs are not to be used with hyperbaric oxygen, as the chemotherapy drugs can be enhanced and thus become toxic. A good hyperbaric oxygen facility (such as Bay Area Hyperbarics) will always call the chemotherapy manufacturer to ensure that hyperbaric oxygen therapy will be helpful and not damaging to the patient.
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What is the CPT code for HBOT?
The CPT code for HBOT is G0277.
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Does Medicare cover HBOT?
Medicare covers Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for approved conditions, and many insurance companies also cover approved conditions. If your condition is not approved by your insurance, we can discuss our special rates. Give us a call at (408) 356–7438. We are happy to discuss your options with you.
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Can HBOT help Neuropathy?
Hyperbaric treatments help heal neuropathy by regrowing small blood vessels and nerves that have died from disease, injuries from radiation and aging. Patients often experience numbness and or pain when they start treatment. Hyperbaric treatments most often bring back sensation and make, for example, walking easier and more enjoyable.
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Why would a physician consider HBOT?
A physician would consider using hyperbaric chamber therapy under a variety of situations. Physicians most typically refer patients to hyperbarics when the patient is not healing with traditional medical interventions and hyperbaric chamber therapy is approved by Medicare for this condition. Some patients experience significant unresolved pain and unremitting disease states that the mechanisms of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in a hyperbaric chamber are known to affect, such as the down regulation of inflamatory genes. For an example, some patients have experienced severe, unremitting hives with itching, which did not improve with any specialists interventions. Some physicians will consider hyperbaric chamber therapy if the patient has no other good avenues for improving their failing health, and they know the hyperbaric chamber therapy is safe and will not harm the patient.
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What is Hypebaric Oxygen Therapy?
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HB0T) is a medical treatment where you inhale 100% oxygen in a chamber with increased atmospheric pressure. HBOT injects 400x the oxygen into your tissues and bones and mobilizes stem cells. It regrows healthy tissues in the brain, blood vessels, skin and bones. It also reduces pain and swelling, and speeds recovery. It is simple, effective and painless.