Webinar: Making the Mouth-Body Connection in Cancer Care
The National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS) presents a webinar about oral care — an aspect of cancer treatment that is often overlooked. Oral side effects and untreated dental diseases can cause added pain, financial hardships, psychological distress, and a diminished quality of life for those being treated for cancer. Oral effects can also lead to complications or delays of therapies, which can compromise treatment outcomes. Oral changes may have a continued negative impact post-treatment.
In this webinar, Jill Meyer-Lippert, RDH, a longtime dental hygienist and founder of Side Effect Support, discusses the current evidence of oral-systemic links with various types of cancer and success stories of hospital-based oral health programs.
This presentation reviews potential oral side effects associated with various cancer treatments, as well as ways to prevent, delay, or reduce these complications by focusing on prevention and patient education. A focus on oral hygiene modifications and product recommendations will help us to empower our patients to make surprisingly simple changes to reduce their risks. We will discuss ways for the medical and dental teams to work together to provide optimal patient care.
Additional resources are provided in the slide deck and linked below for patient education and continued provider knowledge. While the effects of cancer and cancer therapies do not necessarily end when treatments are complete, the knowledge received with this course will help serve your patients beyond the treatment time frame and throughout survivorship.
After this course, participants will be able to:
- Identify oral-systemic links with various types of cancer.
- Describe oral side effects of cancer treatments and how they may affect quality of life and mortality.
- Discuss preventive strategies to avoid and manage short-term and long-term oral side effects.
- Develop strategies for the medical team and dental team to work together to improve patient care.
Watch the full video below or watch on YouTube.
Webinar Resources
- Slide Deck: “Cancer Treatments & Oral Health” – Jill Meyer-Lippert, RDH (8mb PDF)
- There are several QR code links to additional resources displayed during the presentation:
About Jill Meyer-Lippert, RDH
Jill Meyer-Lippert, RDH has worked in dentistry for over 30 years and is the founder of Side Effect Support LLC. Side Effect Support is an online resource for cancer patients, family caregivers, and healthcare providers aimed at reducing harmful oral side effects of treatments to improve quality of life and treatment outcomes.
Jill is a 2014 recipient of the Sunstar Americas/RDH Award of Distinction, holds a certificate in Oncology Management from the University of Southern Indiana College of Nursing and Health Professionals, and is an instructor for the National Network of Healthcare Hygienists’ Oncology Certificate program. She is a member of the Registered Dental Hygienist Advisory Board for the Oral Cancer Foundation and was named one of the “6 Dental Hygienists You Want to Know” by Dimensions of Dental Hygiene magazine in 2022.
