Cancer Treatment

Dental care during cancer treatment

Cancer and oral health may seem unlikely partners, but your oral tissues are going to be at the center of a firestorm when you begin cancer treatments.

If we can examine you two weeks prior to beginning your treatments, we can likely prevent serious dental problems.

Some oral problems you may experience and preventive measures you can do at home include—
Xerostomia—Cancer treatments affect the salivary glands, which result in dry mouth (xerostomia). Drink plenty of fluids, preferably water. Without the protective saliva, oral bacteria voraciously feed on sugary drinks and food and eventually cause tooth decay. Chew sugarless gum or suck on mints made with the natural sweetener, xylitol. We can prescribe a saliva substitute.

Oral hygiene—Keep a stringent oral care routine even though you won't want to crawl out of bed. Brush with fluoride toothpaste after each meal and before you go to bed, and clean your tongue with a tongue scraper. Use a mouth rinse that does not contain alcohol because alcohol can cause xerostomia. Gently floss every day.

Cavities—Radiation can cause rampant cavities. Using a gel fluoride product every day will be your teeth's best friend.

Etched tooth enamel—A hard, protective layer of mineral covers your teeth. Cancer treatments can cause you to regurgitate stomach acids that destroy tooth enamel. Immediately after regurgitating, rinse your mouth with ¼ teaspoon baking soda stirred into 1 cup warm water.

Infection—Chemo can make you less resistant to oral bacterial and fungal infections. Watch for signs of swelling, bleeding, a sore, or a sticky white film in your mouth. Immediately call our office or your oncologist so that we can prescribe a medication to get the infection under control.

Good oral health will help you as you proceed with your cancer treatment program. It is critical that you make and keep your appointments so that we can assist you during this stressful, topsy-turvy time.

Dragons Breath!

You brushed your teeth, but 20 minutes later your dragon's breath is back. Halitosis (bad breath) refers to stinky sulfur compounds that accumulate especially at the back of your tongue.

Halitosis has several causes and treatments, including—

Diet—digested foods such as hi-protein foods, coffee, tea, acidic foods, cookies, candy, garlic and onions are absorbed into the bloodstream, carried to your lungs and exhaled.

• Eat fewer offending foods and drink more water.

Inadequate oral hygiene—food particles between your teeth and trapped in the grooves on your tongue ferment and produce sulfur compounds.

• Brush twice each day with an anti-bacterial or baking soda toothpaste and floss once each day or after each meal.
• Thoroughly clean dental appliances.
• Use a tongue scraper to remove trapped food and bacteria from the back of your tongue.  
• Avoid mouth rinses that contain alcohol. Use mouthwashes that contain xylitol and essential oils such as tea tree and spearmint that help freshen breath.
• Chew xylitol gum between brushings. Xylitol is an ingredient in some mouth rinses, toothpastes and gels.

Inadequate oral care lets biofilm build up on your teeth and below your gumline. Most of the sulfur compounds that cause bad breath come from bacterial compounds deteriorating gum tissue.

• A professional cleaning above and below the gumline removes bacteria and dead tissue.

Medicines—can cause xerostomia (dry mouth).

• Change medications, if possible.
• Saliva helps to clean the mouth, so, use products made with xylitol to stimulate saliva flow and kill oral bacteria.

Medical conditions—stomach or intestinal conditions such as the flu and Crohn's contribute to halitosis.

• Add more alkaline foods to your diet.
• Drink plenty of water.

If our suggestions don't help, don't be embarrassed to ask us about stinky breath