Chances are good that you’ve sat in our office once or twice before filling out surveys about your medical history. You might have even wondered how some of those questions relate to your basic routine dental checkup. Then at the end of the checkup your dentist probably looked around your mouth, under your tongue and checked your chin and neck.
All of these things are a part of your routine checkup and an essential oral cancer screening. According to the American Dental Association, 1 in 92 adults will develop oral or pharyngeal cancer. Men are more likely to develop oral cancer than women. The median age of initial detection is 62. However, many factors can contribute to oral cancer developing at a younger age. Tobacco and alcohol use are two key risk factors.
If you’ve had cancer before or if oral or pharyngeal cancer has been prevalent in your family, it is important to share that information with your dentist.
Early detection greatly improves your odds for successful treatment of cancer. As cancer develops, it advances in stages and the risk of it metastasizing and spreading to other parts of the body increases.
If you have questions or concerns about oral cancer or if would like a screening, please call us at 541-342-1072 to schedule an appointment.