Oncological diseases of the oral cavity are less known than other more frequent oncological pathologies, but for those affected the therapeutic path is very complex and involves repercussions also of a psychological nature.
Oral cancer: the importance of psychological support
For patients affected by oncological diseases of the oral cavity, the treatment involves a first phase of surgery and then radio therapy. This type of surgery can lead to facial injuries, difficulty swallowing, difficulty speaking, difficulty in accepting oneself from an aesthetic point of view for the patient.
Precisely for this reason, support for patients with this type of tumor cannot only be dental.
The change in physical appearance and in particular of one’s face causes the patient to be depressed from a psychological point of view. In all cancer patients, psychological well-being is an important weapon in fighting the disease.
A multidisciplinary approach for patients with oncological diseases of the oral cavity is therefore very important. Psychological support alongside dental monitoring is considered appropriate already in the diagnosis phase.
Patient care in every aspect
There should be no more compartmentalized medicine. The patient should be considered in his totality, even in the emotional and psychological sphere.
A multidisciplinary approach guarantees a treatment path that looks at the patient in its complexity.
The idea of providing the dentist with psychological support throughout the entire treatment process, which begins with the diagnosis and continues up to the post-treatment, arises precisely from the need to offer the patient support during the difficult stages of the disease.
We believe that listening to the patient and communicating the diagnosis and the phases of therapy are important aspects of the relationship between doctor and patient, adding to this the possibility of not neglecting the emotional and psychological aspect is certainly a further advantage.
A dentist, like any other doctor, is faced with conversations with his patient that have very high levels of complexity. It is not just a matter of explaining the diagnosis and listing the necessary therapies, emotionally it is always much more complicated.
The presence of psychological support aims to lead to the acceptance and acceptance of all the emotional states that the patient will experience during the stages of the disease. It will therefore be useful to help the patient focus on the present and help him to make the most of all the resources necessary to face the future moments.
For us it remains essential not to remain closed in one’s own field of intervention, but to give the patient concrete answers with respect to the totality of his needs and his well-being.
