Dr. Emily Senay offers some advice about a new screening test that could save lives.
Oral cancer is cancer of the lining of the mouth, the tongue, or other structures around the mouth.
Like many cancers, if you catch it early, there is great success in getting rid of it. But if you don't get it early, it can be deadly. The first line of defense against this kind of cancer is your dentist, who is trained to look for and recognize early signs of oral cancer. If your dentist does find something suspicious, now there is a new test that uses a brush to take a cell sample from the questionable area. The brush is able to scrape down beneath a few cell layers to get a good sample.