Visit your dentist before cancer treatment

Tue, Jul 27th 2021, 08:39 AM

You have received the news. You or a loved one was recently diagnosed with cancer and require immediate treatment. You then go through the process of planning a personalized treatment plan designed to get you or your loved one healthy again. This usually involves lifestyle and dietary improvements to adequately support the treatment. One such area you should never neglect is the health of your mouth.

In this column, I address the importance of good dental care, especially when associated with cancer treatment.

Whether the cancer is in the head/neck region or another part of the body, your nutrition is critical to your eventual healthy recovery. For this to occur, you need healthy teeth and gums, so that you may eat the proper foods and digest the proper nutrients.

The National Institute of Health (NIH) lists three reasons to see a dentist before cancer treatment:

• You will feel better.

• You will protect your teeth, gums and jaw bone.

• You will avoid and manage delays and complications associated with cancer related oral infections and inflammation.

One of the common treatments for cancer is radiation. It uses beams of intense energy to kill cancer cells. Radiation to the head and neck region has two potentially challenging side effects:

• Radiation damages the salivary glands in the mouth, resulting in dry mouth. When the mouth is dry, the environment becomes acidic. An acidic mouth is more prone to dental decay and bad breath. This means all decay should be diagnosed and treated by a dentist before radiation therapy. Also, a prevention protocol involving fluoride and a low sugar diet, xylitol, baking soda rinses and artificial saliva may be prescribed to help prevent the decay. Good home care is important to prevent tooth decay and tooth loss. We want to avoid any surgery like a tooth extraction.

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