April is Oral Cancer Awareness Month, and Pure Dental Spa wants to help you understand the risk factors associated with the illness, some common symptoms of oral cancer, and treatment options available to you should you receive a diagnosis. Oral cancer kills someone every hour. The mortality rate for oral cancer is extremely high—with only about 3 out of every five-people expected to live past 5 years of a diagnosis. Oral cancer is far-too-often caught far-too-late. Most people don’t even know they have oral cancer until it’s too late for it to be fixed. Oral cancer screenings and exams should be conducted annually, such as a routine medical visit. Identifying oral cancer in its early stages offers the highest likelihood of a successful treatment.
Risk Factors
Anyone over the age of 18 is at risk of developing oral cancer. There are several risk factors lead to oral cancer, and most of them have to do with poor oral hygiene. Generally, those with poor oral hygiene habits are at the highest risk. Other risk factors are those who use tobacco products regularly, drink alcohol, or have HPV. Poor nutrition, infectious disease, and physical trauma may play a role in the likelihood of developing oral cancer as well.
Symptoms
Symptoms of oral cancer include, but are not limited to: pain, numbness, tenderness, soreness or irritation that does not go way, red or white patches in the mouth or on the lips, lumps, thickening tissues, rough spots, difficulty chewing/swallowing or speaking, or abnormalities in the jaw or tongue.
Treatment
As previously mentioned, treatment is often the most successful when cancer is caught in its earliest stages. The earlier the cancer is detected, the easier it is to treat. The type and intensity of treatment varies as the stages progress. There are a number of treatment options available including chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and certain surgical procedures.
Don’t give oral cancer the opportunity to progress. Catch it early by regularly visiting Pure Dental Spa for your annual oral cancer screenings!