The number of oral cancer cases has increased despite the fact that a quick and easy checkup can help catching this health condition in the early stage.
Oral cancer screening is the part of routine dental checkup. It means that whenever you will go to the dentist for a preventive care visit, you will get the oral cancer screening test run on you. Now, the good news is that the technology is being used to ensure accuracy of the checkup. Visual examination along with the use of fluorescent light technology helps in identifying slight changes in the soft tissues. This way, it can be determined if the pre-cancerous or cancerous cells occur in the oral cavity. The screening process doesn’t take more than just a few minutes. In fact, the patient may not be able to know if there is a cancer screening being conducted. These few minutes can save the patient’s life.
It turns out that oral cancer screening can solely be an important reason for visiting the dentist because over 40,000 new cases of oral cancer emerge every year. If the problem is diagnosed in early stages, it can be treated quite successfully and you can expect full recovery after the treatment. And if the problem is diagnosed in later stages, the chances of survival drop by 50%. So, it is very important to get your oral cavity fully checked on regular basis.
Oral cancer symptoms
Apart from oral cancer screening that you get from your dentist, you also can watch out for some specific symptoms. If you find these symptoms existing in your body, you can quickly call for the dental appointment. The patients, who are at higher risk of developing this cancer, should look out for these symptoms. These symptoms mainly include:
- Soreness in the back of the mouth or on the tongue
- Red and white patches on the mouth’s soft tissues
- Sensation of something being stuck in the throat due to soreness
- Trouble in swallowing foods
- Mouth numbness
Finding any of these symptoms existing in you should be a heads-up call. You can visit the dentist to get your oral cavity fully checked. If you use tobacco in any form, you are at the higher risk of developing this cancer. First, you have to quit using tobacco, then, you have to make sure that you are not missing any dental visit.
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