Oral Cancer Detection is One of Your Dentist’s Priorities!

When you schedule a dental appointment, you’re not just receiving a dental cleaning. You’re taking advantage of the opportunity to have your inner and outer workings of the mouth examined by a professional. This helps to avoid serious health concerns like oral cancer.

Little do many people know, you can also perform a basic oral cancer screening at home. In case you haven’t been to the dentist for a while or happened to miss your last appointment, you can follow these simple steps for screening from the comfort of your own home.

Understand Why Oral Cancer Screenings Are So Important

Little do many people know, oral cancer affects more than 30,000 people every single year. Just like any other cancer, the chances of surviving the disease becomes less and less as cancer cells continue to multiply—so much as cutting the survival rate by 50%.

Although this all sounds like bleak news, there is a silver lining! When you notice the signs of oral cancer early on, your chances of retention rise to around 98%! Although it’s ideal to have a trained professional examine your head, neck, and mouth for symptoms of the disease, it’s highly encouraged that patients check themselves periodically.

Pay Attention to the Signs

Screening yourself for oral cancer is relatively simple, especially if you’re familiar with how your body normally feels. It’s important to pay attention to abnormalities like these symptoms:

• Persistent mouth sores
• Difficulty moving your tongue or jaw
• Numbness in your mouth
• Loose teeth
• Change in voice
• Weight loss
• Chronic bad breath
• Continuous mouth pain
• Lumps on your cheek
• White or red patches on your gums
• Sore throat that lasts for weeks
• Difficulty swallowing or chewing

6 Steps to Simple Screening

You’ll need a bright flashlight, a washcloth or gauze to handle your tongue, and camera handy to take pictures if you do notice any abnormalities. Follow these steps:

1. Start with checking the jaw by taking both hands on each side of your head and sliding them down from the top of the ear to the bottom.
2. Then, slide your hands from behind your ears down along the sides of your neck, checking for any unusual lumps or bumps.
3. Turn your head to the left and use your left hand to grab your side neck muscle that bulges out. Feel for any bumps and repeat on the right side.
4. Center your head and grab the middle of your neck (the gullet) and swallow.
5. Bring your hands back around your head and neck, even feeling the collarbone areas for abnormalities.
6. Finally, check inside the mouth on the floor and roof of your mouth, cheeks, lips, tongue, and back of the throat with your flashlight.

Pay extra attention to the floor of your mouth and tongue as they are the two main places that oral cancer symptoms are commonly found. If you notice anything out of the ordinary, be sure to contact your local dental office.

About Our Office

Here at Westhampton Dentistry, we understand that we play a primary role in cancer detection and prevention. We work closely in the mouth and inspect it thoroughly each time patients visit our office. If it’s been a while since your last professional dental exam and cleaning, feel free to schedule your appointment easily by calling our office.