Taking action to stop oral cancer before its too late

Oral cancer affects more than 30,000 Americans every year but you can decrease the risk by taking steps to ensure its caught early enough. The very first signs of oral cancer may be a very small, but dangerous, oral spot or sore that you are not even informed about.

In a routine examination, your dental professional will carefully examine the inside of your mouth and tongue.
If they notice a flat, not painful, white or red spot or a small sore, this may be absolutely harmless. But destructive spots or sores often look the same as harmless ones.
To make sure that a spot or sore is low risk, your dentist may prefer to perform a simple test, such as a brush test. This collects cells from the lesion which can them be analyzed.
Any good results from a brush test must usually be confirmed by a biopsy before choosing the next action.
If precancerous cells are found, the lesion can be surgically taken out if necessary during a separate procedure.
When caught early enough, the chances of stopping the cancer developing are high but only half of those diagnosed survive more than five years.
Thats why normal dental examinations are so important for your overall health and not just to have good teeth.