How to Keep Your Oral Health Up After Surviving a Serious Illness

If you’ve ever been through a major illness, it’s likely that your health will never be the same again. The same is true for your oral health: surviving an illness can cause tooth decay and other oral problems that need to be addressed right away. Luckily, there are many things you can do to improve your oral health after surviving a serious illness! In this blog post, we’ll talk about why it’s important to stay on top of your oral health post-illness and how you can get started today.

Learn About Your Oral Health

If you have survived a serious illness, the first thing to do is learn about your oral health. This means getting in touch with your dentist or doctor so they can help assess your risks and talk about ways to improve your oral health. It’s important that you know what kind of treatment options are available for you, as well as any medications that might affect how well those treatments work.

It’s also important to get familiar with some of the key factors that impact oral health:

• Knowing where there is an increased risk for developing gum disease (or other diseases) in people who have had certain medical conditions such as diabetes or heart disease.
• Learning about which family members have been affected by these medical conditions and what treatments worked best for them.
• Understanding how different medications interact with each other, both in terms of effectiveness and side effects (like dry mouth).

Get a Check-Up

Getting a check-up is a good idea for anyone who’s suffered from a serious illness. This is especially true if you’ve had to go through treatment, or are receiving ongoing care from a doctor or dentist.

Your first visit should take place six months after your recovery has begun. After that, it’s important to get an oral health evaluation every year with your primary care provider—and more often if you’re at risk for certain diseases and conditions that can affect your mouth and teeth (these include heart disease, diabetes and osteoporosis).

At the appointment, your dentist will examine the condition of your teeth and gums using specialized tools like mirrors, picks and cotton swabs. Then s/he’ll look at X-rays taken during previous visits to see how well things are progressing since then. The dentist may also ask about any pain or discomfort in order not only to address immediate concerns but also determine whether there might be something else going on beneath the surface that could lead toward serious problems down the road (like gum disease).

Know the Risks and Watch for Problems

The best way to protect your oral health is to know what the risks are and how to watch for problems.

• Canker sores: These sores develop when the lining of your mouth becomes inflamed and irritated, sometimes because of poor oral hygiene or a cold sore. They can be very painful and affect your eating habits by making it difficult to eat or drink comfortably. You may also have difficulty speaking because the pain from canker sores makes it hard for you to form words clearly enough for others who are trying to speak with you
• Gingivitis: This condition is characterized by inflammation of the gum tissue around teeth that causes bleeding gums that bleed easily when brushed or flossed (the latter being an important step in keeping teeth healthy). It’s common among adults over 50 years old but it can happen at any age if poor oral hygiene practices persistently occur over time

Choose Healthy Foods

Next, you should make sure the rest of your diet is healthy. Eating a lot of processed and sugary foods can cause tooth decay and gum disease. A good diet will have plenty of fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts and whole grains. This will help keep your mouth healthy so you won’t have to worry about infections or bad breath.

If you’re unsure what’s best for your diet, ask your dentist or doctor for some suggestions on how to eat well after surviving a serious illness like cancer treatment.

Stay Away From Sugary Drinks and Alcohol

As you know, sugary drinks are bad for your overall health. You’re probably aware that sugar can cause cavities and other dental problems. Alcohol also causes dry mouth—which is not good for your oral health either! Sugary drinks can also lead to tooth decay and gum disease, so it’s best to avoid them altogether (or at least limit yourself).

Quit Smoking If You Smoke

Smoking is bad for your health. It causes cancer and can lead to oral cancer, which can be life-threatening. Smoking also causes gum disease and can cause bad breath. Smoking makes teeth yellow and reduces the amount of saliva in your mouth, so you are more likely to develop tooth decay. You might need a dental filling or root canal if you have symptoms like tooth sensitivity or swelling in your gums. Smoking is also linked with an increased risk of losing teeth prematurely.

Brush Twice a Day and Floss Daily

Brushing and flossing are two of the most important things you can do to maintain good oral health. You may feel that brushing is easy, but it’s not always as simple as it seems. If you’re having trouble getting all of your teeth clean with a toothbrush alone, try using a small interdental brush or dental floss to clean hard-to-reach areas between your teeth.

If brushing is too difficult for you, consider getting an electric toothbrush that has oscillating bristles that vibrate at high speeds to remove plaque and food particles from your teeth. These brushes are available at many drugstores and can be found in all shapes, sizes and colors!

You Can Improve Your Oral Health After a Serious Illness

If you’ve just survived a serious illness, it’s easy to let your oral health slip. But even if you’ve been feeling run down or ill for months, there are still things you can do to maintain good oral hygiene and prevent problems in the future.

One of the most important things is getting regular checkups from your Markham family dentist. A lot of people think that no matter how sick they get, their dental appointments are off limits—but this isn’t true! In fact, having regular dental checkups is probably even more important after an illness than before: during an illness (or any other stressful time), our teeth tend to become weaker because our bodies aren’t as strong as usual; this means we’re at risk for tooth decay if we don’t take care of ourselves properly.

If it seems like a long way off right now and things seem too overwhelming right now but don’t worry—there are lots of resources available online (including this article!) that will help remind us how important it is not only to take care of ourselves but also encourage us along the way!

Conclusion

If you’ve survived a serious illness, you may be wondering how to keep your oral health up. So, we hope this article has given you some good tips about how to do so! Remember that it is important to take care of yourself both physically and mentally. You can do this by eating healthy foods, getting regular checkups with your dentist and taking care of your teeth (brushing twice per day). The last thing we want is for someone who’s been through so much already to have another problem because their mouth was left neglected!