It’s a day you will never forget in the city of Leeds when you are diagnosed with oral cancer- your world has suddenly changed beyond all recognition and life looks horribly different. You will probably never know what caused it- it even baffles dentists too. Did you smoke, drink, were you under an enormous amount of stress, were you run down, bad diet? These are the normal things associated with the disease, yet if you did none of these things, then you are extremely unlucky indeed. You’ve obviously had the tests for them to come back positive and now you have to have the treatment which could involve chemo, radio and/or possibly physical surgery too. If it’s been caught early, there is every chance that your pull through and then the fight to prevent it returning begins. Your lifestyle must change completely and you must get as much support as you can to get you through the first few months. Some people change beyond recognition, take up yoga, get fit- some people swear that becoming vegetarian has helped. But the ray of hope, and it shines very brightly is that the number of people making a full recovery from the disease is soaring; sadly though, so is the number of people suffering from it. So, if you are having trouble swallowing, have neck and ear aches, constant ulcers in the mouth- anything untoward that you are unfamiliar with, please, get it checked out immediately.

At your six month check up with your local dentist they will be looking out for the potential signs of a number of nasty dental conditions. They will look at your gums for indications of disease and your teeth for signs that cavities are forming. But at the more serious end of dental conditions, dentists are now trained to look for the any signs that you might be developing oral cancer.
This is a good job too because if cancer of the mouth is diagnosed early and then treated appropriately, the recovery rates are high. Your dentist will be looking for discoloured patches in your mouth and this is something that you can keep an eye out for at home too. These patches might be somewhat hardened too. Other common indicators can be a sudden period of weight loss without any other explanation.
Rates of oral cancer are highest in men and there have been links made with smoking tobacco and drinking alcohol regularly in excessive quantities. But everyone should be vigilant because a third of all cases of oral cancer do not come from one of these ‘higher risk’ groupings.
If your dentist spots the signs of oral cancer they will put in motion a referral to an oncologist so that you can be looked at by a cancer expert. The chances of catching a potentially fatal condition like oral cancer before it has the chance to take hold is another excellent reason to visit your Leeds dentist for regular appointments where your mouth can be checked. Don’t hesitate to book an appointment, even if it has been a while since your last. Your oral health is very important.

There are many great reasons to go and see your dentist on a regular basis. They will be monitoring your teeth and gums for any signs of problems which need treatment. This is what they spend years training for and building up a wealth of pertinent experience. In recent times dentists have been trained to look for something else in the mouth which used to be the preserve of general practitioners.
Oral cancer can manifest itself in hardened, rusty coloured patches in the mouth and your dentist will be keeping vigilant for them during your six months check-ups. If you are an adult male who smokes and drinks then you are in the high risk groups but this doesn’t mean that others can be complacent as a quarter of all cases of oral cancer patients are not from any of these groups.
Once your dentist has spotted a warning sign he or she will know the procedure of referring you to specialist as soon as possible so that you can be more thoroughly examined by an oncologist. It might be that chemotherapy or radiotherapy is required. Oral cancer actually has very high survival rates compared to other cancers but it needs to be spotted early before it gets out of hand and begins to spread.
Make sure that you go and visit your City of Leeds every six months so that they can keep an eye out for signs of this potentially fatal condition in the mouth. It is always better to report something if you are worried about it too. Your dentist won’t think that you are just making a fuss; they will take your concerns seriously.

Cancer is a shocking disease- the fact that it is on the increase in Leeds is frankly, alarming. A lot of this has been put down to the stresses of modern living, the foods we eat, smoking and excessive drinking. But the gene that causes cancer can also be hereditary. Identifying it- In the early stages, you may suffer from jaw ache, sore throat swelling in the neck, difficulty in swallowing or suffer constantly from weeping sores in the mouth; this is the time to get a check-up. Blood tests and tissue biopsies will identify any signs of the disease. Treating it- Normally to remove the cancer, you will require chemo or radiotherapy. In some case, physical surgery will be called upon. Healing- Once you have been cleared, you have to sit down with someone and take a long hard look at your lifestyle, because it has to change. Some people choose counselling and then opt for a new regime- vegetarian foods, healthy diets, physical exercise, stopping smoking, cutting out drinking and a strong oral hygiene program- all these have been tried by people post-cancer, because the psychological affect the disease can have on your mind can be traumatic and by healing it with a new regime, it can help you to battle against the problem returning. Cancer means a fight and if you are ready, you’ll beat it and the proof is in statistics- more and more people are beating the disease than before.

Throughout the country, the highest number of cancer related deaths stem from oral cancer, and it’s the same with the city of Leeds. The problem being is that it is particularly difficult to spot in its early stages, hence it has time to develop without causing any pain or discomfort and is then usually spotted when it has moved into a different area. At this stage, the disease has got its claws in and becomes a lot more difficult to treat. It’s not always easy to pinpoint the causes of cancer as we are all very different from each other. But smoking, heavy drinking, exposure to sunlight stress and poor diet are thought to be the main players here. However, because of this awareness itself, it has been possible to pinpoint certain symptoms that have been linked to oral cancer and are considered to be an indication that it may be present. Some of the more common signs are trouble with swallowing, constant aching in the neck, the jaw and the ears, persistent mouth sores or ulcers and bad breath. If you have any these concerns, you should discuss them with your dentist straight away, who will then run a series of tests to see if there is a problem, and if so, then prepare you for a course of treatments, such as chemo or radiotherapy, or physical surgery, depending on the extent of the problem. Most of the people who overcome the disease, are those who are the most informed about what they are about to embark on, and so get in the best shape they can before the fight. One ray of light to add is that although oral cancer is on the increase, so are the success rates of beating it.