Blog Highlights:
- According to the American Dental Association, tens of thousands of individuals are diagnosed with head and neck cancer each year.
- Experts recommend that we all see our dentists regularly so we can also go through oral cancer screening.
- Some patients who have oral cancer are known to have flat, painless spots inside the mouth.
- It is also possible for patients to develop small sores inside the mouth.
- Seeing your dentist is not just about protecting yourself from tooth decay and gingivitis, it is also about protecting yourself from oral cancer.
According to the American Dental Association, each year, tens of thousands of individuals are diagnosed with head and neck cancer. And because early detection is critical when it comes to cancer treatment, experts highly recommend that people see their dentists for routine checkups on a regular basis. This is because during a routine dental checkup, the dentist will also look for signs of oral cancer.
Dentists have to conduct an oral cancer screening on their patients so that they will be able to check for the presence of any abnormalities within the mouth. Some individuals who have oral cancer are known to have flat, painless, white or red spots. Oral cancer can also be seen as a small sore inside the mouth.
If spots or small sores are seen, the dentist will have to do further testing to help determine if the spots or sores are harmless. If the dentist suspects that you have oral cancer, he or she may take tissue samples so that it can be tested by a specialist.
Seeing your dentist is not just important for your teeth and gums, it is also crucial for the early diagnosis of oral cancer. We need to understand that it might be very easy to miss important signs and symptoms if we opt to do it on our own. In effect, we need to see our dentists regularly not just to protect ourselves for tooth decay and gingivitis, but also to protect ourselves from oral cancer.
