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Oral Cancer - How to be Aware

April is Oral Health Awareness month in Canada, and when most people think about oral health, the first aspects coming into mind are cavities and gum disease. That makes sense, as cavities and gum disease are the main causes of most dental problems, as both are extremely common. But did you know there's a type of condition that, although rare, is something that must be urgently treated?

This condition is oral cancer, which is cancer around the mouth, including on the lips, tongue, or inside the jawbones.

 

What are the signs of oral cancer?

The most common sign of oral cancer is a wound in our mouth or on our lip that does not heal.

If you've ever had a canker sore, it manifests itself similar to that. Canker sores usually take around 2 weeks to heal, but in the case of cancer, these wounds will not heal with time, especially when there's no obvious reason for the wound occurring (such as constant trauma in that same area).

These suspicious lesions can grow in size and change colour, and most of the time there's no pain associated with them, so it is easy to overlook and miss.

When oral cancer is in the jawbone, it is often invisible to the eye, but on dental x-rays they can be visualized by a dental professional.

In addition, teeth that suddenly feel "loose" without a history of gum disease, or rapid changes in speech and swallowing may also indicate a problem.

What are the risk factors for oral cancer?

Risk factors for oral cancer including tobacco usage, drinking alcohol, human papilloma virus (HPV), and UV light. Some people are also at higher risk due to genetic factors that could compromise their immune system.

What can I do?

One way to screen yourself for oral cancer is to look at our mouths with a mirror in a brightly lit room. Stick your tongue out, look at all sides of the tongue, and compare the left and right halves of the tongue to see if there's any differences. Also look at the soft pad of tissue below your tongue (also known as the floor of the mouth) and see if there's any difference between the left and right sides.

Please watch out for any wound on the lips that isn't healing as well.

If anything is noted, they should be promptly looked at by a dental or medical professional.

To lower the risk of oral cancer, it is best to lower or eliminate the use of tobacco products and alcohol intake in our lives. This not only helps with reducing the risk of oral cancer, but also benefits our overall health in the long run.

The high risk strains of human papilloma virus are HPV-16 and HPV-18. Thankfully, there is a vaccine available for many strains of HPV, and in BC some people are eligible for free vaccination.

Cancers on the lip are most commonly caused by excessive exposure to the sun without protection. So to prevent that, using SPF-certified lip balms would go a long way to help protect our lips when we go out on sunny days.

SPF-rated lip balms are recommended
 

Here at MC2 Dental, our team gives all patients a thorough oral cancer screening during exams. If we find anything suspicious, we notify you and let you know the next steps to take. As always, if you have any concerns, please bring it up to your healthcare provider so they can help you.

Address

Contact

490 West 64th Ave
Vancouver, BC

V5X 2M1
Canada

(T) 604.266.8602

(F) 604.266.8670

©2020 by MC2 Dental.

Hours

Mon - Sat: 9.30am - 6.00pm

Sundays and Statutory Holidays closed

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