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Mouth Care for Head and Neck Cancer Patients – a Dental Hygienist's Perspective Jocelyn Harding Dental Update 2024 47:10, 707-709.
Authors
JocelynHarding
CEB DipDH
Clinical Ambassador for the Mouth Cancer Foundation, OMFS HNC Dental Hygienist, Gloucestershire Royal Hospital and Confident Dental and Implant Clinic, Gloucestershire, UK
A proactive approach to the mouth care of head and neck cancer patients, from their initial visit to their discharge, is vitally important. This area of care is complicated by many factors, of which some patients will not be aware when they start their difficult journey. This article is written to give the reader an insight into the dental hygienist's perspective of mouth care before, during and after treatment and then graduating the patient back into primary care. The treatment for each head and neck cancer patient is varied, therefore the process of healing post-surgery and therapy can be complicated. Balancing patient's expectations before and after diagnosis is a difficult task and may be impossible to predict, which makes this area of care complicated and involved for the dental hygienist.
CPD/Clinical Relevance: The diagnosis and treatment of head and neck cancer takes place in hospitals and involves a team of clinicians, including dental hygienists. Once patients treated for such cancers return to general dental practice, it is essential that general dental practitioners (GDPs) and their teams have a clear understanding of how they have been treated and how GDPs and their teams can contribute to the patients' aftercare.
Article
Incidence rates for head and neck cancer in the UK during 2015–2017 was highest in the 70–74 years age group and with an ageing population with comorbidities to consider, complications can occur.1 According to United Kingdom Oral Management in Cancer Care Group (UKOMiC), ‘Oral problems and damage can be temporary or permanent resulting in a significant health burden for the individual while making substantial demands on limited heath care resources’.2 Individual advice given by the dental hygienist and dental therapist is necessary for the patient, whilst being mindful of their psychological effects as well as their physiological effects.
As stated in the guidelines from the Royal College of Surgeons of England/British Society for Disability and Oral Health that suggest we should ‘…improve the quality of life for patients with malignant disease, who are receiving cancer therapy that has implications for oral comfort and function, by promoting consistent, evidence-based high standards of oral care through a co-ordinated team approach.’3
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