What Are the Signs of Oral Cancer?

Think back to the last time you had a check-up at your dentist’s office. Chances your dental provider performed an oral cancer screening during your appointment, and for good reason. Every year, dentists and physicians diagnose about 58,450 new cases of oral cavity or oropharyngeal cancer. Sadly, about 12,230 will not survive their cancer.

Dr. Marcano at Orlando Center for Cosmetic Dentistry says what to look for is the first step to maintaining good oral health. Dr. Marcano explains oral cancer and why everyone should have it on their radar.

Oral cancer explained

Oral cancer is an umbrella term used to describe all cancers anywhere in the oral cavity, such as on the tongue, gums, lips, cheeks, and hard and soft palate. Typically, if you’re diagnosed with oral cancer, a more specific medical term will be used, such as oropharyngeal cancer or head and neck cancer. The specific name of the cancer refers to where the cancer begins.

Oral cancers don’t necessarily run in families, unlike other types of cancers. Instead, lifestyle factors play an important role in putting you at a higher risk for developing oral cancer. For example, if you smoke or use tobacco products or drink, you are at a higher risk of developing oral cancer.

Remarkably, excessive drinking combined with smoking makes your risk of developing oral cancer 30 times higher than the general public who don’t drink or smoke. Other risk factors include:

• Poor nutrition
• Excessive long-term sun exposure
• Being overweight
• Having a compromised immune system

Stubborn mouth sores

Oral cancer symptoms are varied and can be subtle. Many patients may notice a sore on their lip or mouth that sticks around and doesn’t seem to heal. If something seems off, don’t wait, but call your dentist right away. It may be nothing, but your dentist can check it out and let you know what’s happening.

Other symptoms of oral cancer include:

• Reddish or white patches or legions inside your mouth
• Mouth or ear pain
• Difficulty swallowing
• A lump inside your mouth

Early detection greatly increases treatment options

While it’s natural to think of any cancer as being scary, the good news about oral cancer is that early detection greatly increases both treatment options and survival. The one thing you can do proactively is to make and keep those routine dentist checkups so that your dentist can screen for oral cancer regularly.

That simple five-minute screening can literally save your life. We perform oral cancer screenings at Orlando Center for Cosmetic Dentistry at regular dental checkups. It plays out because your provider performs a comprehensive physical examination under your tongue and checks out your gums and cheeks, looking for lesions or other anomalies and visible sores.

If Dr. Marcano detects something, he uses gloved hands to feel for lumps. If he thinks further diagnostics are needed, Dr. Marcano uses a special toluidine blue mouth rinse or may perform an assessment using auto-fluorescent light or a special device called VELScope® Vx to detect possible abnormal cells.

If you have a stubborn mouth sore that doesn’t go away or have concerns about oral cancer, don’t wait for your next dental appointment. Contact us at Orlando Center for Cosmetic Dentistry for an oral cancer exam. Click the online booking tool or call or text the office today.