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Posts Tagged ‘Mouth cancer Leeds’

The Importance of an Oral Cancer Screening

Thursday, August 4th, 2016

585804_blogWhen thinking about cancer, many forget about the dangers of oral cancer and even more forget that your dentist should be the first stop to diagnosis the disease.

About oral cancer

Oral cancer usually starts off in the mouth as a small spot or sore. These are commonly white or red and can be located in any part of the mouth. If untreated, these sores can affect any area of your mouth, including your gum tissues, tongue, palate, lips and lining of the cheeks. Oral cancer also occurs more regularly in people who smoke and if you combine this with consumption of alcohol, you greatly increase your risk of developing the disease. Signs of oral cancer may include:

  • Colour changes in your oral tissue
  • Difficulty with chewing, speaking, swallowing or moving your jaw and tongue
  • Sores in the mouth that easily bleed and do not heal
  • Lumps or thickening rough spots
  • Small eroded areas in the mouth
  • Pain, tenderness or numbness on the lips and inside of the mouth

Oral cancer screening

By visiting your dentist more regularly you can significantly decrease your chances of suffering with oral cancer, as screenings are part of your routine dental examination. It is therefore important that you have regular full mouth check-ups, so your dentist can detect the early stages of cancer and treat it.  Some spots or sores located in the mouth may not be cancer, but it is always best to check just in case and your dentist will perform a brush test to ensure the sore or spot is not dangerous. If anything is found to be wrong with the sore then it will be removed in a separate procedure, but it is important to know that positive results from the brush test will be confirmed first by incisional biopsy and histology.

Remember, it is important to visit your dentist for an oral cancer check-up, as on average only half of those diagnosed with oral cancer will survive past five years. However, oral cancer is one of the most treatable forms of cancer if found at an early stage.

Screening For Cancer in Leeds Saves Lives

Friday, May 2nd, 2014

5538155_blogYou may think it sounds a little far-fetched to say that a trip to the dentist could save you life, but this really is the case when it comes to oral cancer.

Oral cancer is a form of cancer, which is affecting more and more people in the UK. More than 6,000 new cases were diagnosed last year and the number of people affected by this deadly disease has almost doubled over the last ten years. At City Dental we are determined to provide our patients with the information they need and encourage routine check-ups and screening sessions to reduce the risk of oral cancer and ensure that any warning signs are identified at the earliest possible stage.

About oral cancer

Oral cancer is sometimes known as mouth cancer; it affects the soft tissue in the mouth and throat and is most commonly characterised by abnormal swelling, red or white patches and slow-healing mouth ulcers.

Sometimes it is not possible to say what causes cancer, which occurs as a result of abnormal cell growth, but the main risk factors for oral cancer are drinking alcohol and smoking; in recent years, the HPV (human papilloma virus) has also been identified as a major risk factor for mouth cancer. This virus is also linked to cervical cancer.

Saving lives in Leeds

As with most other forms of cancer, the earlier the signs of mouth cancer are spotted, the better. Early intervention contributes to a dramatic improvement in the chances of survival because it may mean that cancer can be treated before it starts to spread to other parts of the body.

Screening enables our dentists to identify very early changes in the oral tissue, which allow early diagnosis and treatment. Using the latest technology, our dentist can look for warning signs long before they are visible to the naked eye and this means that treatment can be administered before the condition progresses and becomes more aggressive and advanced.

Leeds goes to war with Oral Cancer

Monday, February 18th, 2013

One of the things that anyone dreads hearing is the diagnosis of oral cancer; it means you have to prepare yourself for war and be ready to fight it head on. Though even today in Leeds, there is no decisive reason for it happening there are some things that you could have been aware of in the beginning. Your diet is important as it helps to maintain a strong immune system, but you will really be enticing the disease in if you smoke and drink heavily and suffer from excess stress. The first signs are generally anything that has been constantly nagging away at you for sometime; sore throats, ulcers, jaw aches and constant coughing, and these need to be checked out immediately because one of the keys to beating the disease is to catch it early. If the diagnosis is what you’ve been dreading, then the battle begins in earnest. Your lifestyle has to change overnight and once you have been treated, you can’t just rest on your laurels, because you need to change the way you live. Throw everything you can at the disease and make sure you have the support from friends and family; the disease is beatable and statistics are good, but you have got to want this more than anything else in your life.

The obstacle of Oral Cancer in Leeds

Monday, December 17th, 2012

If you live an exuberant lifestyle in Leeds and you love to push the boat out, love smoking, drinking and fast foods, then you could be heading for a fall at some point in your life and be exposing your mouth to the threat of oral cancer. This disease as you may well know is far from being cured, whatever money is thrown at it, which rather suggests that no-one knows why it strikes in some people and not in others, but certainly, bad habits like the above will not help the cause. It is also wise to be aware of the symptoms. Generally anything that continues to linger is a threat: sore throat, ulcers, jaw and earaches and problems with swallowing certainly need looking at as soon as is possible because one of ways of beating the disease is to have it diagnosed and then treated early. The treatment of chemo, physical or radiotherapy will be quite severe on the body and your already bruised mind, so you need to get yourself ready for it and have people, both professional and social, waiting for you when you get out and ready to help you through it. When you come through the recovery stage and get yourself back to ‘normal’, it is probably time that you sat down and took a long hard look at the lifestyle that got you in this mess and then turn it around- it’s a simple equation: just do everything completely opposite to what you used to!