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.
Tags: oral cancer
