Dental care before cancer surgery might be good idea

A good friend of mine, a doctor in his 60s mentioned to me that he was trained to use oral care as a base for choosing who to save in emergency situations. The gist was all else being equal to try and save whoever had the best teeth/oral care.

He mentioned some of the above information/mouth being clean of bacteria...but he also added that individuals with good teeth tend to take better care of their body/will follow through with instructions post op.

Where I had major surgery here, a dental exam and cleaning was part of the standard pre-op package. as well as part of the recovery plan - and not treated by the insurance as elective, but rather as treatment.  Following recovery, the pattern of 3-monthly cleanings reverted to elective.

Another thing to look at is whether you have any lose teeth. When you have total anesthesia, a tube is inserted through your mouth into your lungs, and if a lose tooth is knocked out and into your lungs, that can be a big problem.

Seems like a good idea to take care of any dental work before undergoing major surgery or cancer treatment.

As for pneumonia, perhaps it would be a good idea to get a pneumonia vaccine shot prior to major surgery, or prior to chemotherapy or radiation treatment.

Perhaps talk to the physicians first.

Interesting. It has been said that good dental healthcare reduces problems of the stomach and digestion, as well as heart disease.

However, mightn't these results simply show that people who get regular dental care are more careful of their health in general?

Still, there is no downside to regular brushing and flossing, and getting to the dentist of a checkup and cleaning very couple of months (except cost, depending on which country you're in).