About a month before beginning chemotherapy. you should visit your dentist because side effects are more likely in patients with unhealthy mouths. The dentist can clean your teeth, take X-rays, treat any mouth problems and teach you how to prevent oral side effects.

Chemotherapy is a systemic treatment that uses drugs to kill malignant cells, bacteria, viruses and fungi. Chemotherapy drugs are used to treat cancer, bone marrow diseases, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. The drugs can be given by injection or taken orally.