Oral Cancer Awareness Month — Our Experience with Oral Cancer Detection
By: Kingston Dental Clinic
Tags: Dentistry, Cancer, Health, Dental Care, Oral Health

During a comprehensive dental examination, our team will look for signs of oral cancer. Early detection is key with oral cancer. If caught early, most forms of oral cancer are treatable.

Schedule regular oral health examinations to detect oral cancer early. Timely detection increases the chances of survival.

Though everyone is susceptible to oral cancer, some groups of people are at a higher risk. Here are the top risk factors.

Age

Are you in your mid 40s? Your risk of developing oral cancer increases with age. A noticeable increase is evident in people in their 40s and older. The recent increase in Human Papillomavirus (HPV) related cases is causing more people to be diagnosed for oral cancers between the ages of 52 and 56. As the average age for oral cancer cases decreases, it is vital that you receive regular oral cancer screenings at any age.

Gender

Men are twice as likely to develop oral cancer compared to women. Part of this difference may be related to regular intake of alcohol and tobacco. Although the gender difference is decreasing since more women are drinking and using tobacco today than in previous generations. There has also been a trend in recent years of younger men being diagnosed with HPV-related oral cancer. Both men and women should schedule regular oral health examinations to detect oral cancer early.

Tobacco

Smoking or chewing tobacco can greatly increase your risk of developing oral cancer. Tobacco can lead to cancer of the mouth or throat. Additionally, oral tobacco products cause cancers associated with the cheeks, gums, and inner surface of the lips. Development of these cancers depend on the duration and frequency of tobacco use. Non-smokers are not immune to oral cancer, so be sure to schedule an appointment with our team for an examination.

Alcohol

Among those that are diagnosed with oral cancer, about 70% of people are characterized as heavy drinkers. This is defined as having an average of two or more drinks per day for men, and one or more drinks per day for women. People who drink heavily can be more than twice as likely to develop oral cancers than people who do not drink. Oral cancer can still occur in people who have never had an alcoholic drink. Contact our team to schedule an examination.

Human Papillomavirus (HPV)

People who have HPV-related oral cancers tend to be younger and are unlikely to smoke or drink. Typically, those diagnosed with HPV-related oral cancers are at a much lower risk of death or reoccurrence. We suggest a proactive approach by maintaining regular visits to our dental clinic.

Diet

Poor nutrition can increase your risk for developing oral cancer, particularly diets low in fruits and vegetables and a higher risk for oral cancers. However, oral cancer can develop in healthy individuals. No matter your diet, schedule a visit with our team for a comprehensive oral examination.

Oral cancer does not discriminate. While these seven factors have been tied to an increased risk of oral cancer, that does not diminish the importance of regular oral examinations for everyone regardless of their age, gender, or other factors. Regular dental examinations make it possible for our team to detect oral cancer early. Contact our dentist to schedule a comprehensive oral examination.

Oral Cancer Awareness Month. Take preventive steps to safeguard against oral cancer, and also schedule regular oral health examination at the dental clinic.

What we offer

At Kingston Dental Clinic, our oral surgery team is experienced and qualified to fully remove small benign and pre-cancerous lumps from any part of the mouth (tongue, cheeks, palate, gums, retromolar triangle, floor of the mouth) and send them to a pathology laboratory for a full report. This is completely pain free and the recovery does not take more than a day.

The cause of these lesions and lumps might be due to tumoural changes, pre-cancerous, due to viruses such as HPV, auto-immune, due to trauma from food or your bite, ulcers due to various reasons.

These can be white, red, dark in colour; these can be flat or these can be raised; these can be soft or hard; these can be small or big; these can be in one area or in multiple areas; these can be long lines; these can have a pattern or not; these can be present in other parts of the body; these can hurt or be asymptomatic. Whatever the case, these should not be ignored.

Book with us for advice, or to remove lumps, to be sent for biopsy with a quick result within 1 or 2 weeks. Avoid a lengthy wait and talk to one of our clinicians.