Oral Care and Hygiene: Best Practices to Prevent Oral Cancer

Guest post by Stephen Roshy

A large number of people suffer from oral cancer worldwide.

While the chances of getting oral cancer increase with the age, the health professionals, particularly

dentists, assert that people fall prey to this excruciating and fatal disease because of inadequate oral

care and hygiene and bad habits.

While you might take oral health for granted, you should know that oral cancer shortens your life span

and leads to death.

Did you know that 37% people diagnosed with oral cancer are expected to live for maximum five years only?

Isn’t this petrifying?

While death is, usually, inevitable after being diagnosed with oral cancer, it is possible to avert this disease

and so the oral surgery to treat it.

Oral Hygiene is Essential to Prevent Oral Cancer

The basic yet most significant step to achieve and sustain oral hygiene is to brush and floss teeth regularly.

A mouth, which is unhealthy, paves way for oral cancer by reducing immunity.

Consequently, the ability to battle cancer decreases.

However, brushing and flossing teeth regularly will sustain the health of your mouth and keep you from

getting oral cancer.

Quit Smoking and Drinking Alcohol

Smoking is bad for health and so is alcohol.

While both impact and discolor teeth, they are the major causes of oral cancer too.

Chewing tobacco, smoking and drinking alcohol, therefore, are harmful for teeth and increase the risk

of oral cancer development.

If you want to prevent oral cancer and live a long life, leave these bad habits.

Remember, the more you take tobacco and alcohol, higher are the chances of contracting this disease.

Choose the Right Diet

When health experts say ‘Eat Vegetables and Fruits,’ they mean it.

While including them in our diet is important for our overall fitness, they help one fight oral cancer too.

It has been found that berries, beans, grapes, tomatoes, cabbage, broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables

are effective against cancer.

Besides, green tea, flaxseed, and garlic also play a significant role in cancer prevention.

In addition, it is important to use healthy spices while preparing food and the way you prepare food also

matters in cancer prevention.

For instance, avoid frying and bake the food, instead.

In short, steamed or boiled food is better than fried and grilled food.

Visit Your Dentist Regularly

It is not necessary that you visit your dentist only if you have a dental problem.

Visiting him regularly can, in fact, save you from many oral health issues including cancer.

Visit him after every 6 months, at least, so that you get to know if there are potential risks of getting

oral cancer.

Besides oral cancer, regular visits will enable you to know the status of your oral health and you will

get the chance to take important dental care suggestions from your dentist.

Examine Your Mouth

In addition to visiting your dentist, keep a handy mouth mirror to examine your mouth, particularly

the difficult-to-see areas, once in a month.

Check thoroughly the back and sides of your tongue and make sure there aren’t any white, red or grey

patches, lumps, tender areas or bumps.

If you see any of them, visit your dentist immediately and get it re-examined.

Cancer prevention is possible–and that too–in an inexpensive way.

It only requires one to follow the dentist, avoid harmful foods and habits, and brush and floss regularly.

While oral surgery is, often, the first-line treatment for oral cancer, you can prevent it just by following

aforementioned practices.

About the Author:
Follow Stephen Roshy to get all the information regarding dentists. He is well known for his creative and informative writing. You can find him on Facebook , Twitter and Google+

Are you and your family practicing proper oral care and hygiene? 

Share your thoughts and comments with us.