11 Nov

Oral Cancer Help Offered in London

Your London dentist will perform screening for oral cancer during your dental examination. Death rates from oral cancer are high because oral cancers are usually discovered when they are late in their developmental stage, and not because they are difficult to find and diagnose. Sometimes they are only found after they have metastasized to the neck’s lymph nodes. Prognosis is much better if oral cancer is discovered at a very early stage in its development. Patients have difficulty noticing intra-oral lesions, and don’t go to the dentist until the symptoms and pain occur. If someone has oral cancer and it is treated, their chance of developing oral cancer again is 20 times higher than those who have not had oral cancer. This risk usually lasts for 5-10 years after the initial treatment for cancer. Approximately 90% of oral cancers are squamous cell carcinomas. Make sure to contact you dentist or doctor if your experience any of the following: 1) sores or lesions in the mouth that don’t heal for 2 weeks; 2) cheek thickening or a lump; 3) patches on the tongue, gums, lining of the mouth, or tonsils, that are red or white in colour or both. 4) a feeling that something is stuck in your throat or persistent soreness of the throat 5) difficulty chewing or swallowing, moving your tongue or jaw; 6) tongue numbness or other areas of numbness within the mouth; and, 8) jaw swelling. These signs and symptoms may be the result of something else; however they are also indicative of oral cancer. Only your dentist or doctor can tell you. If there is a fear of oral cancer, then certain diagnostic procedures will be performed, along with a biopsy. Tobacco use is known to increase the risk of oral cancer. Surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy are the most common treatments for oral cancer.