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An oral cancer screening examination is routinely performed when you visit your London Dental Clinic. Your prognosis from mouth cancer is a lot better the earlier it is discovered. While people have difficulty noticing intra-oral cancer lesions, your London dentist can find these at an early stage so that you can be diagnosed and receive the appropriate treatment(s) early in the disease process. Once you have been diagnosed with mouth cancer, and it has been treated, you have a twenty times greater chance of getting it again compared to people who never had mouth cancer. The majority of mouth cancer is known as squamous cell carcinomas, which occurs 90% of the time. Contact your London dentist immediately if your have: mouth sores that don’t heal for over 2 weeks; lumps and thickening of the cheek; red and/or white tissue patches found on your gums, mouth lining, tonsils and/or tongue; feel something stuck in your throat or constant throat soreness; difficulty swallowing; numbing of your mouth; and/or swelling of your jaw. These symptoms can be due to other problems, but they are also indicative of mouth cancer. If your dentist is suspicious that you may have mouth cancer, a biopsy will be performed and sent to a pathology laboratory to confirm the findings. Tobacco use, especially in combination of alcohol consumption, can greatly increase your risk of mouth cancer(s). Treatment usually entails surgery, radiation and/or chemotherapy.