Oral health
How Communication With Your Dentist Affects Oral Health
In taking proper care of your teeth, gums, and mouth, regularly seeing your dentist is just as important as brushing twice and flossing every day. That is why dental care experts continue to stress that you should visit the dentist frequently, every six months to be specific.
However, there can be certain aspects that prevent you from getting the most out of your dental visits. One of these issues involve the effectiveness of communication between you and your dentist.
A team of researchers from the University of Florida found out that ineffective communication can still lead to poor dental and oral health despite visiting the dental clinic regularly.
Better Communication Is Needed To Uphold Oral Health
According to the findings of the study, the difference between the expertise of dentists and the limited knowledge of patients can create a communication barrier that keeps you from forming a great and effective dentist-patient relationship with your dental care partners.
How Your Saliva Upholds Dental Wellness
You can easily describe saliva as the transparent fluid that fills your mouth, every time you are about to munch on your favourite treats.
Then again, you might not be entirely aware about this but the flow of saliva has other functions aside from aiding in the preliminary digestion of food. It actually plays an integral role in maintaining a healthy environment in your mouth.
All in all, it helps in protecting your teeth and gums from dental and oral health concerns so that you can enjoy healthy and beautiful smiles.
Here are the numerous ways in which saliva upholds dental wellness and oral health.
Oral Health Complications Of Cancer Treatment
Most treatments for cancerous malignancy, such as bone marrow transplants, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy, often cause adverse physiological side effects, which most commonly include nausea, loss of weight and appetite, and hair loss.
While these side effects are often common knowledge to the general public, not many people know that undergoing cancer treatments also have debilitating consequences to oral health.
Approximately 75% of patients who receive blood and marrow transplant experience adverse oral health complications. This is also true for nearly 40% of patients who undergo chemotherapy. The risk and severity of oral health complications largely depend on the cancer treatment regimen that a patient is subjected to.
Oral Health Complications
Patients who receive minimal myelosuppressive or nonmyelosuppressive therapy, for instance, are usually at a low risk of developing oral health complications. Generally, the more aggressive the cancer treatment becomes, so too does the likelihood of developing adverse oral health reactions. Among the most common oral health side effects of cancer treatment include:
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