If you or someone you know is starting cancer treatments you need to watch today's Tuesday Tooth Talk. 

Today we are going to discuss the connection between your oral health and cancer. How do cancer treatments affect your oral health? What is oral cancer?

Oral cancer is found in a fairly rare segment of the population but it does have a very high mortality rate because it hides in your mouth. Without receiving regular dental checkups, it can grow and become malignant and spread in a very short amount of time. For this reason, we highly recommend cancer screenings, which we do for all of our patients and hopefully at a 6 month interval. We can catch spots early and take care of them before they are serious. 

Cancer treatment can also impact your oral health. Chemotherapy and radiation work by eliminating the fastest growing areas of the body, of which several are in your mouth. Cancer treatments can cause the gum tissues and other tissues in the mouth to peel off and become sore. They can also cause the saliva flow to slow down and sometimes even stop altogether. This leads to soreness that compromises the health of your mouth. In some situations, these treatments can lead to infections, higher rates of decay, and periodontal disease. All of these consequences require dental treatment. We recommend that you get checked out by your dentist before you start cancer treatment. It is much easier to fix and maintain the early issues versus finding large issues and attempting to correct them during the middle of cancer therapy. We want you to have the least amount of pain, problems, and expense when it comes to taking care of your oral health while also dealing with fighting cancer.

If you have questions, we’d love to help! Please give us a call!

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