What Happens During An Oral Cancer Screening?
Most of us tend to postpone our routine dental checkups simply because of an inherent fear of dentists and the thought of all that dental equipment that we see strewn around at the dental clinic.
Add screening for oral cancer into the mix and the fear of going for a checkup is bound to increase manifold.
Knowing what happens during an oral cancer screening exam and why it is so important should help dispel some of those fears.
What You Can Expect During the Process The first thing you should know is that it is not painful at all.
This screening can be done during your routine dental visit so you do not have to make a special trip unless you suspect that you have developed any of the symptoms of oral cancer.
During the screening, the dentist will first do a visual examination of your mouth to check if you have any mouth sores or white or red patches on your tongue or cheeks or bumps on the tongue.
The dentist will then feel the tissues in your mouth using gloved hands to check for any lumps or abnormalities that escaped detection during the visual check up.
Mouth sores and patches are actually quite common in many people and most of these are non cancerous.
An oral exam however cannot distinguish between cancerous and noncancerous sores so if the dentist finds anything unusual, you may be required to do a few additional tests to definitely determine the cause.
This could involve removing some of the cells and sending them for testing.
Symptoms There are a few symptoms you should watch for that could be an indication of something serious.
These symptoms include mouth sores or blisters, red or white patches on the cheeks, tonsils or tongue, lump on cheek or tongue, numbness in any area of the mouth and a chronic sore throat.
Importance of Regular Screening As with most diseases, the later the cancer is diagnosed, the more the disease would have spread and the lower the chances of a complete cure.
When you get a regular screening done, there are greater chances that the dentist will detect any abnormality in the earlier stages.
While regular screening is advisable for everybody, it is even more important if you are a heavy smoker, your alcohol intake is high or if you have had an earlier diagnosis of oral cancer.
Add screening for oral cancer into the mix and the fear of going for a checkup is bound to increase manifold.
Knowing what happens during an oral cancer screening exam and why it is so important should help dispel some of those fears.
What You Can Expect During the Process The first thing you should know is that it is not painful at all.
This screening can be done during your routine dental visit so you do not have to make a special trip unless you suspect that you have developed any of the symptoms of oral cancer.
During the screening, the dentist will first do a visual examination of your mouth to check if you have any mouth sores or white or red patches on your tongue or cheeks or bumps on the tongue.
The dentist will then feel the tissues in your mouth using gloved hands to check for any lumps or abnormalities that escaped detection during the visual check up.
Mouth sores and patches are actually quite common in many people and most of these are non cancerous.
An oral exam however cannot distinguish between cancerous and noncancerous sores so if the dentist finds anything unusual, you may be required to do a few additional tests to definitely determine the cause.
This could involve removing some of the cells and sending them for testing.
Symptoms There are a few symptoms you should watch for that could be an indication of something serious.
These symptoms include mouth sores or blisters, red or white patches on the cheeks, tonsils or tongue, lump on cheek or tongue, numbness in any area of the mouth and a chronic sore throat.
Importance of Regular Screening As with most diseases, the later the cancer is diagnosed, the more the disease would have spread and the lower the chances of a complete cure.
When you get a regular screening done, there are greater chances that the dentist will detect any abnormality in the earlier stages.
While regular screening is advisable for everybody, it is even more important if you are a heavy smoker, your alcohol intake is high or if you have had an earlier diagnosis of oral cancer.
