Are there dental problems from breast cancer treatment? What are the possible complications? Wondering how to manage the side effects? In this video, Dr. Jennifer Griggs explains everything you need to know about dental problems from breast cancer treatment and how to manage them.


Hi in this video i’m going to be talking About dental and oral or other mouth Problems that we see with cancer Treatment I’m going to cover What kind of problems can arise how you Can prevent them and how you can manage Them and what kind of doctors or other Care providers you might see [Music] [Applause] So i’m going to start with chemotherapy With chemotherapy we do see problems With Your dental health and your oral health What i recommend to all of my patients Is that before you start chemotherapy You see your dentist for a dental Checkup and a cleaning Some people haven’t had a dental Cleaning in two years and what you don’t Want to be doing is having a dental Cleaning while you’re going through Chemotherapy the three to six months That you’re getting treated is when your Immune system is suppressed and a dental Cleaning surprisingly Actually introduces a lot of bacteria Into your bloodstream So of course if you need to have a Dental procedure Don’t don’t put it off if you have an Abscess get it taken care of but you Don’t want to be having routine dental

Cleaning during chemotherapy so what if Your chemo’s tomorrow what do you do Well surprisingly your dentist will be Extremely appreciative if you call up And say My oncologist or Somebody i watched on yerba recommended A dental cleaning they will get you in They have emergency spots for root Canals and all kinds of dental Emergencies they’ll give you one of Those for a dental cleaning now they Wouldn’t give me one if i just put it Off right away but you’re going through Special circumstances and you want to Have your teeth looked at If you have any dental problems like an Abscess chemotherapy should be delayed Until that’s taken care of it doesn’t Need to be delayed for a long time but Long enough to make chemotherapy safe So that’s number one Number two is that during Chemotherapy and some other cancer Treatments i’ll talk about in just a Minute Our mouth can change we Get Disruptions of our normal flora bacteria And fungus in the mouth and when you’re Given chemotherapy corticosteroids or Steroids are part of that to prevent you From having an allergic reaction for Some chemo drugs and to have nausea and

People can develop dry mouth and if it’s Very severe You will get a very dry mouth and your Doctor looking in the mouth will see Something called thrush it’s just a Yeast infection of the mouth it’s very Treatable but that can give you a bad Taste and a dry mouth and make it hard For you to talk so it’s important if you Have symptoms like that to make sure Somebody on your medical team looks in Your mouth before you start chemotherapy That day and you don’t have to hold off On chemo but you’ll get either an oral Rinse or if it’s really bad if you’re Diabetic for example and prone to yeast Infections you might get an oral Antifungal agent very few side effects Very safe but important The other thing is that food can taste Different we’ve had people commenting on Our other videos that food doesn’t taste Good What i recommend is that you eat what Does taste good to you What i found is that a lot of people Like not red meat anymore but fish and Putting citrus can really help even in Your water water can taste like metal When you’re going through chemotherapy Put in an orange or a lemon or lime Grapefruit something to make it taste a Little more sour and that can help with The taste

Now we’ve talked about chemotherapy i’d Like to talk about endocrine therapy or Hormonal therapy We know that we see serious Changes in Oral health or dental health and people On aromatase inhibitors There are investigators studying this But it’s really important that you get Regular dental care when you’re on Especially the aromatase inhibitors if Your tumor is positive for the hormone Receptors estrogen and progesterone Receptors [Music] The bisphosphonates our bone modifying Agents which we’ll see people having a Lot more often can also rarely cause Serious dental problems Before i start bisphosphonates in my Patients I have my patients see their dentist There’s a very rare side effect called Osteonecrosis of the jaw And seeing your dentist before you start These medications can make sure that These medications are safe for you and While you’re on them make sure that they Continue to be safe for you We also see oral problems at the time of Surgery if a tooth is damaged when you Go under general anesthesia so that’s Not common but it can happen and if you Get radiation therapy to the mouth or

Jaw or to the salivary glands if there’s Cancer involvement whether it’s breast Or other cancer for head neck cancer for Example it’s important to make sure that Your oral health is looked after Now what do you do if you have side Effects well i recommend that you Take impeccable care of your mouth we Should all do it anyway we should all Floss at least once a day and brush Twice a day it’s really important during Treatment when you’re at risk for any of These problems to take really good care Of your teeth honor your teeth without Our teeth it’s hard to chew it really Impacts quality of life and so it’s Awfully important to take really good Care of your mouth If you have problems with your gums like Gingivitis you’ll want to get some Additional instructions on how to take Care of your teeth from your dentist or Your medical team if your mouth is dry And you want to use a mouthwash we Recommend using a non-alcoholic Mouthwash that just dries your mouth out More and you may want to actually use a Special mouthwash for people with dry Mouth So i’ve covered a lot i do want to add That if you don’t have dental insurance You may be able to find Dental clinics that have care in the Community just reach out to the your

Medical team Reach out to medical dental schools they Will often have Clinics for people with no insurance And you can also reach out to your Health department because taking care of Your mouth is part of taking care of all Of you i think we underestimate our oral Health till we have a problem so hope This has been helpful covered a lot if It was helpful to you click like and Also subscribe below what that does is It helps other people with the same kind Of questions you have find this channel In these videos If you want to learn more about your Treatment and treatment options go to Yerba.com [Music] You