Other Protective Measures

Besides good oral care, there are many things you can do to help prevent oral mucositis (OM) or reduce the severity of OM. You can follow the nutrition recommendations your health care team has developed, avoid certain products that can increase your risk of OM or make OM worse, and turn bad habits into good habits.1,2

Nutrition Tips

As you probably already know, it is important to nourish your body during your cancer treatment.3 Good nutrition is important, and many cancer patients feel that eating well is something they can do on their own to help fight their cancer.4 You can still eat well when you have OM, but there are certain foods and beverages you should try to avoid because they can irritate or injure your mouth. Things to avoid include the following:

• Hard or rough foods that might scrape your mouth and put you at risk of infection
• Hot, spicy or salty foods1,2

Here are some better choices:

• Soft, pureed foods and liquids
• Bland foods and liquids
• Plenty of fluids to avoid dehydration, which may occur with OM4
• Soft, nonacidic fruits like bananas, mangos, melons or peaches1,2

Products and Habits to Avoid

In addition to proper nutrition, avoiding certain products and habits can help reduce your chances of OM or limit the severity of OM.

• Avoid biting your lips and cheeks.
• Don’t use toothpastes or mouth rinses that have strong flavors or contain alcohol.
• Avoid or minimize alcohol and tobacco use.1,2

Protective Measures During Cancer Therapy

While you are the main person in control of your oral care, there are things your health care team can do (in addition to encouraging and educating you) to help prevent OM. For instance, there are ways of administering therapy and certain drugs that can be given that may help reduce the risk of OM.5 Ask your doctor about these preventative measures and if they are right for you.

In this section you learned about the many ways to help prevent OM. However, if OM does occur, it’s important to know what you and your health care team can do to treat it. To learn more, visit Managing Oral Mucositis.