I’ve been troubled with a sore mouth and tongue since I started chemo and Avastin and have found cleaning my teeth really unpleasant. Quite by chance I discovered that children’s toothpaste is much less minty and therefore not as painful. I’ve checked the ingredients and they are pretty much the same as adult toothpaste.
Hope this helps anyone else who is experiencing the same.
Ali x
Good idea. ’m going to give children’s toothpaste a try. Ordinary toothpaste does make my tongue sting quite while I’m on chemo.
I use a children's toothbrush too much gentler and kinder on the tooth and gums.
Yes I have a children’s toothbrush too. I also, when it was really bad, used a little babies microfibre washcloth, (from Poundland) to rub on my teeth rather than a brush. Probably not as effective as a brush, but it worked well enough at the time
Ali x
Hi Alifit, I also used a soft cloth to clean my teeth & at one time I couldn't have any toothpast it wasn't a nice time. I did go on to a baby's tooth brush when my teeth & mouth wasn't so sore. Now I am off chemo now I am back on a normal soft toothbrush & mild toothpaste.
I hope this doesn't last too long & you get some relief soon take care Cindyxx
Good advice, Ali, for those on the chemo journey. The hospital told me not to use products containing alcohol or Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), the stuff that makes it foam and is nasty stuff, so I have been buying Biotene toothpaste and mouthwash online. But, then I got a touch of black tongue - just a small spot - so the hospital gave me a 1.4% bicarbonate of soda mouthwash by the bucket load and it cleared the black spot in two days and it never returned. I use the bicarb all the time now. I use the Biotene mouthwash in a beaker to "store" the end of the toothbrush between uses so it stays bacteria free.
I'm researching something organic, alcohol, SLS and sugar free for my next lot of toothpaste but it's hard to find. Most contain SLS and whilst Biotene claim their toothpaste is sugar free it does contain sucrolose. Anything ending in "ose" is a sugar substance. It also contains Xanthan Gum, which is something I try to avoid but it's difficult as I'm gluten intolerant and a lot of my gluten free foods contain XG. I did use a soft toothbrush at the start but my teeth didn't feel clean so I reverted back to my electric brush but use it carefully. The hospital also said to avoid hot and sharp food so I make sure drinks and meals cool down before I touch them and don't have crunchy things (or dunk them).
Touch wood, apart from the little black tongue incident I've stayed clear of ulcers and dry mouth. In fact, I do make a lot of saliva now and sometimes have a little dribble thing going on. Old age probably. Got some nasal drip too, especially when it's cold. It's the Avastin - she says, hopefully. It's a paraphernalia to do the right thing but better safe than sorry. Sadly, it's expensive doing the right thing too.
Have a great day, everyone.
Love from cold, damp and miserable rural France
Kryssy xxx
Hi Kryssy, wow this is excellent advice I will be taken some of this on my self. Thank you for posting take care Cindyxx
Sorry, a P.S. as I meant to say that SLS has been shown to actually cause mouth ulcers. There is plenty of advice on Google. xx
Hi Kryssy,
I’ve been using toothpaste without SLS - the children’s one doesn’t have it, although doubtless there is another chemical in it that is as bad! I have a tiny tub of bicarbonate which I dip my toothbrush into when I feel my teeth need exfoliating!
Hope all is well wit( you, Ali x
Yep, doing well now Ali as I'm just on carbo/avastin weekly. I wonder if it's doing as well without the taxo drug but I'll just have to wait and see.
I've given myself a high potassiuim count as I eat a lot of iron rich foods to keep my red blood cell count up as I dip into anemia very easily but I'm having to have a rethink about diet as the high potassium will damage the kidneys and we must look after them during chemo. My daily prune juice has had to go (very high in potassium) as well as spinach, broccoli and salmon - my most favourite foods. All I have left on my list of high iron, low potassium foods for today is one fig, one cup of brown rice and a few nuts. My porridge breakfast has just used up over a third of my allowance. I think it's easier just to slit my throat..... but I don't have mouth ulcers. Always a brighter side !!
Love Kryssy xxx
You might have thrush. Worth looking at treatment for that. My mouth is very sensitive to toothpaste. It doesnt get better i just cope with it.
As others have said, most toothpastes contain an ingredient which makes this worse. I posted some time ago about this after Trust me I’m a doctor did an item on it. You could search “toothpaste” .
Since then I’ve stuck with sensodyne which doesn’t have it.
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