Why cancer patients should see a dentist before chemotherapy

When looking for a big hospital to treat cancer after a diagnosis, there's one place cancer patients shouldn't miss. It's a neighborhood dentist.

“People look for a big hospital right after they are diagnosed with cancer, and that's when they must to go to the dentist,” said Professor Kwon Do-hyun of the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Samsung Medical Center, on the YouTube channel with the same name as the hospital.

There is another reason why cancer patients should check for dental problems before undergoing full-scale cancer treatment and treat any dental problems in advance.

“It's difficult to respond on time during chemotherapy and radiation therapy. It is advisable to go to the dentist for a checkup before starting full-scale cancer treatment, and if there are any teeth or diseases that need to be treated, get them treated,” Professor Kwon advised.

Why is it difficult to deal with dental problems when you're undergoing chemotherapy or radiation?

“Cytotoxic antitumor drugs kill cancer cells in the body, but it is difficult to target cancer cells alone, so they target and attack rapidly dividing cells,” Kwon said. He noted that rapidly dividing cells other than cancer cells in the body are attacked, causing cancer patients to experience problems, including hair loss, diarrhea, and lowered bone marrow function.

“(With low bone marrow function), the level of things like platelets drops to start chemotherapy,” Kwon explained. “Dental treatments are particularly cautious because many involve bleeding from the mouth, so there can be problems with hemostasis, and there can be side effects of spreading the infection to other parts of the body.”

For this reason, if a patient is diagnosed with cancer while undergoing dental implant treatment, it is common for the implant treatment to be stopped.

“Ordinary cavity treatment or filling usually takes only a day or a few weeks, but dental implants require a very long period, including the placement, waiting period, and secondary surgery. If a patient is diagnosed with cancer while undergoing implant treatment, the implant surgery will be interrupted,” Kwon said.

The interrupted implant treatment can be resumed after the end of chemotherapy.

“Some patients have been waiting for implants but are diagnosed with cancer and cannot get implants. After several years of chemotherapy, they get implants again,” Professor Kwon said. “In the same way, dentures are postponed when chemotherapy is in full swing and are done after the full-scale chemotherapy is over.”