Mouth Cancer Risks Increase When Appointments Are Missed

Mouth Cancer Risks Increase When Appointments Are Missed

If you haven’t had a check up in the last six months, you should book one as soon as you can.

One of the articles on the BBC website this morning highlights a problem throughout the UK at the moment. Far too many people are missing check up appointments at their local dentists for a variety of reasons. Whatever the reasons, and most may be very genuine, the article goes on to highlight the missed opportunities to detect mouth cancer during its early stages through missing them. While problems like tooth decay may be problematic for the same reason, most of these can still be addressed at a more advanced stage albeit with more extensive treatments. Where oral cancer is concerned though, this missed opportunity could prove to be very serious and could even prove to be fatal.

Fatalities from oral cancer are up by almost 50% from a decade ago according to the Oral Health Foundation and the number of people missing check ups are likely to cause this number to rise even further. While oral cancer can usually be treated, the outcome may depend on how late in its stages it is detected. Even where it proves not to be fatal, later treatment can result in other serious problems such as:

  • Facial disfigurement due to more extensive surgery being required
  • Severe speech difficulties
  • Difficulties in swallow that may require a soft food or liquid diet to be followed
  • Significant ongoing pain
  • Infections

Late diagnosis can also allow the cancer to spread to other parts of the body. As you can see then, early detection is essential to provide the best chance of recovery.

Why do check ups matter?

Aside from early detection of dental issues, our Canterbury dentists not only examine your teeth and gums but also the soft tissues of the oral cavity such as the roof of your mouth, the cheeks and tongue. We will look for things such as sores and lesions as well as any unusual colourings or lumps on the tissue.

If we spot any of these, we will ask you questions as there may be logical explanations such as a cut to the tongue which may have been due to catching it on something. Unless there is an obvious reason though, you are likely to be referred to your GP for further investigation. It is important to remember that dentists are trained only to look for symptoms and not to diagnose them. In many cases, there will be other reasons for these issues and your GP will be able to diagnose and then treat these if necessary. Occasionally though, it may turn out to be oral cancer and through having your mouth checked regularly, you will be able to start any necessary treatment at an early stage, helping you to have the best outcome possible.

Oral cancer prevention

In addition to making sure that you have your regular check up appointment booked at Bradley and Partners dentists, what else can you do to minimise any risk of oral cancer? While nothing can be 100% guaranteed, there are a few things that you can do to significantly reduce your risk and also help you to have a much healthier mouth.

Smoking

This is the big one. Smoking is one of the most destructive things that we can do to our body, and the mouth area is no different. In fact, as the smoke has to pass through the oral cavity, it shouldn’t come as a great surprise that smoking is perhaps the biggest cause of mouth cancer that we can easily avoid. Longer term smokers especially may find it very hard to quit, but there is now a lot of advice and support available to help you to do so. The rising cost of tobacco based products should also be another incentive. Stopping smoking will definitely reduce your risk of oral cancer and other dental issues too such as gum disease, infection following procedures and will even help to stop further discolouration of your teeth, especially if you haven’t been smoking for too long.

Alcohol

Alcohol consumption is widespread and if done in moderation, shouldn’t be too much cause for concern, although should regularly be monitored. Those who drink heavily or too regularly though will almost certainly damage their oral health. Both gum disease and oral cancers are more likely if you fall into these categories. If you do this and smoke as well, you will be extremely lucky to avoid both oral and general health problems as the years go by.

HPV

The human papillomavirus has been shown to be another significant risk for mouth cancer, irrespective of whether you smoke or drink. It is usually transmitted through oral sex and other intimate forms of contact and can lead to cancers of the tonsils, tongue and soft palette amongst others. Whilst not exclusively so, this is a particular problem for younger people who perhaps tend to be more sexually active and with a wider variety of partners. Thankfully, there is now a wider awareness of this issue and vaccines have been developed to help prevent it.

We would like to assure patients that, whilst we may recommend changes to your lifestyle in order to improve your oral health, we are not judgemental about people’s lifestyles and we do all that we can to make sure that you feel comfortable when visiting our Canterbury dental practice. If you have not seen a dentist for some time or have missed an appointment, please give us a call to arrange one now. As you can see, it could even potentially be the difference between life and death.

To book your appointment with us, please call Bradley and Partners Dental and Implant Clinic today on 01227 463529.